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Dissociable prefrontal brain systems for attention and emotion.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Yamasaki, H; LaBar, KS; McCarthy, G
Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
August 2002

The prefrontal cortex has been implicated in a variety of attentional, executive, and mnemonic mental operations, yet its functional organization is still highly debated. The present study used functional MRI to determine whether attentional and emotional functions are segregated into dissociable prefrontal networks in the human brain. Subjects discriminated infrequent and irregularly presented attentional targets (circles) from frequent standards (squares) while novel distracting scenes, parametrically varied for emotional arousal, were intermittently presented. Targets differentially activated middle frontal gyrus, posterior parietal cortex, and posterior cingulate gyrus. Novel distracters activated inferior frontal gyrus, amygdala, and fusiform gyrus, with significantly stronger activation evoked by the emotional scenes. The anterior cingulate gyrus was the only brain region with equivalent responses to attentional and emotional stimuli. These results show that attentional and emotional functions are segregated into parallel dorsal and ventral streams that extend into prefrontal cortex and are integrated in the anterior cingulate. These findings may have implications for understanding the neural dynamics underlying emotional distractibility on attentional tasks in affective disorders.

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Published In

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI

EISSN

1091-6490

ISSN

0027-8424

Publication Date

August 2002

Volume

99

Issue

17

Start / End Page

11447 / 11451

Related Subject Headings

  • Reference Values
  • Prefrontal Cortex
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Humans
  • Functional Laterality
  • Emotions
  • Brain Mapping
  • Attention
  • Arousal
 

Citation

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Yamasaki, H., LaBar, K. S., & McCarthy, G. (2002). Dissociable prefrontal brain systems for attention and emotion. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 99(17), 11447–11451. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.182176499
Yamasaki, Hiroshi, Kevin S. LaBar, and Gregory McCarthy. “Dissociable prefrontal brain systems for attention and emotion.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 99, no. 17 (August 2002): 11447–51. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.182176499.
Yamasaki H, LaBar KS, McCarthy G. Dissociable prefrontal brain systems for attention and emotion. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2002 Aug;99(17):11447–51.
Yamasaki, Hiroshi, et al. “Dissociable prefrontal brain systems for attention and emotion.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 99, no. 17, Aug. 2002, pp. 11447–51. Epmc, doi:10.1073/pnas.182176499.
Yamasaki H, LaBar KS, McCarthy G. Dissociable prefrontal brain systems for attention and emotion. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2002 Aug;99(17):11447–11451.
Journal cover image

Published In

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI

EISSN

1091-6490

ISSN

0027-8424

Publication Date

August 2002

Volume

99

Issue

17

Start / End Page

11447 / 11451

Related Subject Headings

  • Reference Values
  • Prefrontal Cortex
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Humans
  • Functional Laterality
  • Emotions
  • Brain Mapping
  • Attention
  • Arousal