The DOI matches its Crossref record; 99 of the 99 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Pathways for Emotions and Attention Converge on the Thalamic Reticular Nucleus in Primates
Open accessAbstract
How do emotional events readily capture our attention? To address this question we used neural tracers to label pathways linking areas involved in emotional and attentional processes in the primate brain (Macaca mulatta). We report that a novel pathway from the amygdala, the brain's emotional center, targets the inhibitory thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN), a key node in the brain's attentional network. The amygdalar pathway formed unusual synapses close to cell bodies of TRN neurons and had more large and efficient terminals than pathways from the orbitofrontal cortex and the thalamic mediodorsal nucleus, which similarly innervated extensive TRN sites. The robust amygdalar pathway provides a mechanism for rapid shifting of attention to emotional stimuli. Acting synergistically, pathways from the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex provide a circuit for purposeful assessment of emotional stimuli. The different pathways to TRN suggest distinct mechanisms of attention to external and internal stimuli that may be differentially disrupted in anxiety and mood disorders and may be selectively targeted for therapeutic interventions.
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“This mechanism is critically involved in integrating real-time sensory and affective information,129 assessing value,49 and regulating “passage to the cortex”.146”
From The neural mechanisms of mindfulness-based pain relief: a functional magnetic resonance imaging-based review and primer (2019) · cites this paper as [146]
In the citing paper
“two regions involved in directing attention to affective stimuli (Zikopoulos and Barbas, 2012) and integrating emotion and cognitive control (Pessoa, 2008).”
From Neurocognitive bases of emotion regulation development in adolescence (2015) · cites this paper as Zikopoulos and Barbas, 2012
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Cites
Deep Brain Stimulation for Treatment-Resistant Depression
Mayberg, H. S., Lozano, A. M., Voon, V., McNeely, H. E., Seminowicz, D., Hamani, C., Schwalb, J. M., & Kennedy, S. H. (2005) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2005.02.014 · Cited by 4,059
Emotion, Decision Making and the Orbitofrontal Cortex
Bechara, A. (2000) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/10.3.295 · Cited by 3,589
Stress signalling pathways that impair prefrontal cortex structure and function
Arnsten, A. F. T. (2009) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn2648 · Cited by 3,299
On the relationship between emotion and cognition
Pessoa, L. (2008) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn2317 · Cited by 2,350
How brains beware: neural mechanisms of emotional attention
Vuilleumier, P. (2005) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2005.10.011 · Cited by 2,162
Pessoa, L., & Adolphs, R. (2010) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn2920 · Cited by 1,794
Primate anterior cingulate cortex: Where motor control, drive and cognition interface
Paus, T. (2001) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/35077500 · Cited by 1,722 · cited 2×
“Further, anterior TRN is innervated by the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) (Zikopoulos and Barbas, 2006), which has a key role in attention [reviewed in (Paus, 2001)], as well as frontal polar area 10, which is engaged during internal ordering of information in complex cognitive operations (Koechlin and Hyafil, 2007).”
BackgroundFunction of the thalamic reticular complex: the searchlight hypothesis
Crick, F. (1984) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.81.14.4586 · Cited by 1,651
Bursts as a unit of neural information: making unreliable synapses reliable
Lisman, J. E. (1997) · Trends in Neurosciences · doi:10.1016/s0166-2236(96)10070-9 · Cited by 1,418
A neuromodulatory role for the human amygdala in processing emotional facial expressions
Morris, J. (1998) · Brain · doi:10.1093/brain/121.1.47 · Cited by 1,291
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- 10.1177/1534582303002002003 · DOI
- Jones EG (2007) The thalamus (Cambridge UP, New York).
Cited by
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The theory of constructed emotion: an active inference account of interoception and categorization
Barrett, L. F. (2016) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nsw154 · Cited by 1,426
“…signal the precision of incoming sensory inputs via their modulation of the reticular nucleus that encircles that thalamus and controls the sensory input that reaches the cortex via thalamocortical pathways [for relevant anatomy, see (Zikopoulos and Barbas, 2006, 2012; John et al. , 2016)].”
The theory of constructed emotion: an active inference account of interoception and categorization
Barrett, L. F. (2017) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nsx060 · Cited by 1,009
“…nucleus that encircles that thalamus and controls the sensory input that reaches the cortex via thalamocortical pathways [for relevant anatomy, see (Zikopoulos and Barbas, 2006, 2012; John et al., 2016)].21 My hypothesis, then, is that cortical limbic regions within the salience network are at the…”
Neurocognitive bases of emotion regulation development in adolescence
Ahmed, S. P., Bittencourt-Hewitt, A., & Sebastian, C. L. (2015) · Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/j.dcn.2015.07.006 · Cited by 621
An active inference theory of allostasis and interoception in depression
Barrett, L. F., Quigley, K. S., & Hamilton, P. (2016) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2016.0011 · Cited by 554
General Cortical and Special Prefrontal Connections: Principles from Structure to Function
Barbas, H. (2015) · Annual Review of Neuroscience · doi:10.1146/annurev-neuro-071714-033936 · Cited by 408
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Metadata
- Authors
- Zikopoulos, B., & Barbas, H.
- Affiliations
- Boston University (US)
- Venue
- The Journal of Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Society for Neuroscience
- Published
- 2012-04-11
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- 15
- Pages
- 5338-5350
- ISSN
- 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
- 1529-2401
- PMC
- PMC3342673
- OpenAlex
- W2019751136
- Cited by
- 193
- References
- 98
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 20 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 7.69
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH057414)
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01NS024760)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
- Keywords
- thalamic reticular nucleus, amygdala, attention, emotional attention, orbitofrontal cortex, mediodorsal thalamus, primate brain, synaptic terminals, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, emotional stimuli
- MeSH terms
- Amygdala, Animals, Attention, Emotions, Female, Frontal Lobe, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Immunohistochemistry, Functional Laterality, Macaca mulatta, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Microscopy, Electron, Neural Pathways, Thalamic Nuclei, Presynaptic Terminals, Microscopy, Confocal, Mediodorsal Thalamic Nucleus
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