Cited by 1,291Face Recognition and PerceptionMemory and Neural MechanismsNeural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

A neuromodulatory role for the human amygdala in processing emotional facial expressions

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Morris, J.·1998·Brain

Abstract

Localized amygdalar lesions in humans produce deficits in the recognition of fearful facial expressions. We used functional neuroimaging to test two hypotheses: (i) that the amygdala and some of its functionally connected structures mediate specific neural responses to fearful expressions; (ii) that the early visual processing of emotional faces can be influenced by amygdalar activity. Normal subjects were scanned using PET while they performed a gender discrimination task involving static grey-scale images of faces expressing varying degrees of fear or happiness. In support of the first hypothesis, enhanced activity in the left amygdala, left pulvinar, left anterior insula and bilateral anterior cingulate gyri was observed during the processing of fearful faces. Evidence consistent with the second hypothesis was obtained by a demonstration that amygdalar responses predict expression-specific neural activity in extrastriate cortex.

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Crossref · 10.1093/brain/121.1.47

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  • Fearful faces elicit response in thalamus, ACC and anterior insula.

    “Fearful faces also elicit response in the thalamus, ACC and anterior insula (Morris et al., 1998).”

    From Affective Cognition and its Disruption in Mood Disorders (2011) · cites this paper as Morris et al., 1998

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Authors
Morris, J.
Affiliations
University College London (GB)
Corresponding author
Morris, J.
Venue
Brain
Published
1998-01-01
Volume
121
Issue
1
Pages
47-57
ISSN
  • 0006-8950 (ISSN-L)
  • 1460-2156
OpenAlex
W2112300402
Cited by
1,291
References
76
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 32 · 2019: 59 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 35 · 2016: 53 · 2015: 36 · 2014: 56 · 2013: 71 · 2012: 62
FWCI
22.13
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
other-oa
Locations
  • Brain (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • Max Planck Digital Library (submittedVersion)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
Wellcome Trust
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
Keywords
amygdala, emotional facial expressions, fear recognition, emotional face processing, pulvinar, anterior insula, anterior cingulate cortex, extrastriate cortex, gender discrimination, amygdala lesions, functional connectivity, early visual processing
MeSH terms
Adult, Amygdala, Discrimination, Psychological, Emotions, Facial Expression, Female, Humans, Male, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Regression Analysis, Sex, Tomography, Emission-Computed

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