Differential Effects of Lesions of the Amygdala and Prefrontal Cortex on Recognizing Facial Expressions of Complex Emotions
Abstract
Humans can detect facial expressions of both simple, basic emotions and expressions reflecting more complex states of mind. The latter includes emotional expressions that regulate social interactions (“social expressions” such as looking hostile or friendly) and expressions that reflect the inner thought state of others (“cognitive expressions” such as looking pensive). To explore the neural substrate of this skill, we examined performance on a test of detection of such complex expressions in patients with lesions of the temporal lobe (n = 54) or frontal lobe (n = 31). Of the temporal group, 18 had unilateral focal lesions of the amygdala and of the frontal group, 14 patients had unilateral lesions of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex-two regions held to be pivotal in mediating social cognitive skills. Damage to either the left or right amygdala was associated with impairment in the recognition of both social and cognitive expressions, despite an intact ability to extract information relating to invariant physical attributes. Lesions to all of the right prefrontal cortex-not just the ventromedial portions-led to a specific deficit in recognizing complex social expressions with a negative valence. The deficit in the group with right prefrontal cortical damage may contribute to the disturbances in social behavior associated with such lesions. The results also suggest that the amygdala has a role in processing a wide range of emotional expressions.
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On the subjectively experienced level, universalism extends beyond the canonical Ekman's 6 basic emotions to a variety of non-basic or social emotions known to have discrete neural and expressive bases.
“This suggests that on subjectively experienced level, the universalism extends beyond the canonical”
From Bodily maps of emotions are culturally universal (2020) · cites this paper as Shaw et al., 2005
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- Authors
- Shaw, P., Bramham, J., Lawrence, E. J., Morris, R., Baron-Cohen, S., & David, A. S.
- Affiliations
- National Institute of Mental Health (US)
- Institute of Psychiatry, London
- University of Cambridge
- Venue
- Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
- Publisher
- MIT Press - Journals
- Published
- 2005-09-01
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 1410-1419
- ISSN
- 0898-929X (ISSN-L)
- 1530-8898
- OpenAlex
- W2074900161
- Cited by
- 96
- References
- 12
- Citations by year
- 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 2.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Keywords
- facial expression recognition, complex emotions, amygdala lesions, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, social expression, temporal lobe lesions, frontal lobe lesions, social cognition, emotional valence, unilateral brain lesions
- MeSH terms
- Amygdala, Analysis of Variance, Brain Injuries, Brain Mapping, Demography, Emotions, Facial Expression, Female, Humans, Functional Laterality, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Neuropsychological Tests, Case-Control Studies, Prefrontal Cortex, Recognition, Psychology
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