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Fuhr K, Bender A, Wiegand A, Janouch P, Drujan M, Cyrny B, Schweizer C, Kreifelts B, Nieratschker V, Batra A. Hypnotherapy for agoraphobia-Feasibility and efficacy investigated in a pilot study. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1213792. [PMID: 37637902 PMCID: PMC10448829 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1213792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2023] [Accepted: 07/17/2023] [Indexed: 08/29/2023] Open
Abstract
A number of case studies describing hypnotherapy in the treatment of anxiety disorder patients have already been published. Only a few randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigated the efficacy of hypnotherapy but focused mainly on symptoms rather than specific mental disorders. The goal of this study was to investigate whether hypnotherapy (HT) was superior to a waitlist control group (WL) in the reduction of agoraphobia-related symptoms. Further goals were to report the feasibility of hypnotherapy as well as attrition and completion rates and detect (epi-)genetic variables, which might play a role in treatment outcome. This pilot study was based on a monocentric two-armed randomized controlled rater-blind clinical trial that was conducted between 2018 and 2020 with a waitlist control group. A total of 36 patients diagnosed with agoraphobia were randomized to either HT or WL. Patients in HT received individual outpatient treatment with hypnotherapy with 8 to 12 sessions for a period of 3 months. Patients in WL received HT after 3 months. Agoraphobia-related symptoms were assessed at baseline, after the treatment, and 3 months later in both groups with a clinician rating. The primary hypothesis concerning the difference between groups in the individual percentage symptom reduction could be confirmed in the intention-to-treat, not the per-protocol sample. Additionally, we applied repeated-measures analyses of variance and found a higher symptom decrease in HT compared with WL patients in three of the five imputed datasets. The dropout rate was low, and satisfaction with the treatment was high. HT patients experienced a strong symptom reduction after receiving hypnotherapy. WL patients improved slightly during the waiting period. The COMT Val108/158Met genotype had an effect on the agoraphobia-related symptoms as well as on COMT DNA methylation levels. This is the first study to indicate that hypnotherapy performed better than a waitlist control group regarding the reduction in anxiety symptoms in an RCT. Future studies should confirm the efficacy of hypnotherapy and compare the treatment with a standard treatment for anxiety disorders in a larger trial. Future studies should also investigate whether hypnotic susceptibility is associated with COMT Val108/158Met genotype and could predict treatment success for HT. Clinical trial registration https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03684577, identifier: NCT03684577.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristina Fuhr
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health, University Hospital of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Annika Bender
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health, University Hospital of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Ariane Wiegand
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health, University Hospital of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Max Planck Fellow Group Precision Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany
| | - Paul Janouch
- Outpatient Psychotherapy Practice, Bad Salzuflen, Germany
| | - Marta Drujan
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health, University Hospital of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Barbara Cyrny
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health, University Hospital of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Cornelie Schweizer
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health, University Hospital of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Benjamin Kreifelts
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health, University Hospital of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Vanessa Nieratschker
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health, University Hospital of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- German Center for Mental Health (Deutsches Zentrum für Psychische Gesundheit), University Hospital of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Anil Batra
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health, University Hospital of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- German Center for Mental Health (Deutsches Zentrum für Psychische Gesundheit), University Hospital of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Edelmann S, Wiegand A, Hentrich T, Pasche S, Schulze-Hentrich JM, Munk MHJ, Fallgatter AJ, Kreifelts B, Nieratschker V. Blood transcriptome analysis suggests an indirect molecular association of early life adversities and adult social anxiety disorder by immune-related signal transduction. Front Psychiatry 2023; 14:1125553. [PMID: 37181876 PMCID: PMC10168183 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1125553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 03/29/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a psychiatric disorder characterized by severe fear in social situations and avoidance of these. Multiple genetic as well as environmental factors contribute to the etiopathology of SAD. One of the main risk factors for SAD is stress, especially during early periods of life (early life adversity; ELA). ELA leads to structural and regulatory alterations contributing to disease vulnerability. This includes the dysregulation of the immune response. However, the molecular link between ELA and the risk for SAD in adulthood remains largely unclear. Evidence is emerging that long-lasting changes of gene expression patterns play an important role in the biological mechanisms linking ELA and SAD. Therefore, we conducted a transcriptome study of SAD and ELA performing RNA sequencing in peripheral blood samples. Analyzing differential gene expression between individuals suffering from SAD with high or low levels of ELA and healthy individuals with high or low levels of ELA, 13 significantly differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified with respect to SAD while no significant differences in expression were identified with respect to ELA. The most significantly expressed gene was MAPK3 (p = 0.003) being upregulated in the SAD group compared to control individuals. In contrary, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) identified only modules significantly associated with ELA (p ≤ 0.05), not with SAD. Furthermore, analyzing interaction networks of the genes from the ELA-associated modules and the SAD-related MAPK3 revealed complex interactions of those genes. Gene functional enrichment analyses indicate a role of signal transduction pathways as well as inflammatory responses supporting an involvement of the immune system in the association of ELA and SAD. In conclusion, we did not identify a direct molecular link between ELA and adult SAD by transcriptional changes. However, our data indicate an indirect association of ELA and SAD mediated by the interaction of genes involved in immune-related signal transduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanne Edelmann
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Tuebingen, Tuebingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Ariane Wiegand
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Tuebingen, Tuebingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
- Max Planck Fellow Group Precision Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Thomas Hentrich
- Institute for Medical Genetics and Applied Genomics, Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
- Department of Genetics and Epigenetics, Faculty NT, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany
| | - Sarah Pasche
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Tuebingen, Tuebingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Julia Maria Schulze-Hentrich
- Institute for Medical Genetics and Applied Genomics, Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
- Department of Genetics and Epigenetics, Faculty NT, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany
| | - Matthias H. J. Munk
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Tuebingen, Tuebingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Andreas J. Fallgatter
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Tuebingen, Tuebingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Benjamin Kreifelts
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Tuebingen, Tuebingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Vanessa Nieratschker
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Tuebingen, Tuebingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
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Wildgruber D, Hesse K, Eckstein K, Kreifelts B, Martus P, Erb M, Klingberg S. P-35 Neural correlates of psychotherapy-related reduction of negative symptoms in patients with psychosis. Clin Neurophysiol 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2023.02.052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/08/2023]
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Groenewold NA, Bas-Hoogendam JM, Amod AR, Laansma MA, Van Velzen LS, Aghajani M, Hilbert K, Oh H, Salas R, Jackowski AP, Pan PM, Salum GA, Blair JR, Blair KS, Hirsch J, Pantazatos SP, Schneier FR, Talati A, Roelofs K, Volman I, Blanco-Hinojo L, Cardoner N, Pujol J, Beesdo-Baum K, Ching CRK, Thomopoulos SI, Jansen A, Kircher T, Krug A, Nenadić I, Stein F, Dannlowski U, Grotegerd D, Lemke H, Meinert S, Winter A, Erb M, Kreifelts B, Gong Q, Lui S, Zhu F, Mwangi B, Soares JC, Wu MJ, Bayram A, Canli M, Tükel R, Westenberg PM, Heeren A, Cremers HR, Hofmann D, Straube T, Doruyter AGG, Lochner C, Peterburs J, Van Tol MJ, Gur RE, Kaczkurkin AN, Larsen B, Satterthwaite TD, Filippi CA, Gold AL, Harrewijn A, Zugman A, Bülow R, Grabe HJ, Völzke H, Wittfeld K, Böhnlein J, Dohm K, Kugel H, Schrammen E, Zwanzger P, Leehr EJ, Sindermann L, Ball TM, Fonzo GA, Paulus MP, Simmons A, Stein MB, Klumpp H, Phan KL, Furmark T, Månsson KNT, Manzouri A, Avery SN, Blackford JU, Clauss JA, Feola B, Harper JC, Sylvester CM, Lueken U, Veltman DJ, Winkler AM, Jahanshad N, Pine DS, Thompson PM, Stein DJ, Van der Wee NJA. Volume of subcortical brain regions in social anxiety disorder: mega-analytic results from 37 samples in the ENIGMA-Anxiety Working Group. Mol Psychiatry 2023; 28:1079-1089. [PMID: 36653677 PMCID: PMC10804423 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-022-01933-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2022] [Revised: 10/31/2022] [Accepted: 12/15/2022] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
There is limited convergence in neuroimaging investigations into volumes of subcortical brain regions in social anxiety disorder (SAD). The inconsistent findings may arise from variations in methodological approaches across studies, including sample selection based on age and clinical characteristics. The ENIGMA-Anxiety Working Group initiated a global mega-analysis to determine whether differences in subcortical volumes can be detected in adults and adolescents with SAD relative to healthy controls. Volumetric data from 37 international samples with 1115 SAD patients and 2775 controls were obtained from ENIGMA-standardized protocols for image segmentation and quality assurance. Linear mixed-effects analyses were adjusted for comparisons across seven subcortical regions in each hemisphere using family-wise error (FWE)-correction. Mixed-effects d effect sizes were calculated. In the full sample, SAD patients showed smaller bilateral putamen volume than controls (left: d = -0.077, pFWE = 0.037; right: d = -0.104, pFWE = 0.001), and a significant interaction between SAD and age was found for the left putamen (r = -0.034, pFWE = 0.045). Smaller bilateral putamen volumes (left: d = -0.141, pFWE < 0.001; right: d = -0.158, pFWE < 0.001) and larger bilateral pallidum volumes (left: d = 0.129, pFWE = 0.006; right: d = 0.099, pFWE = 0.046) were detected in adult SAD patients relative to controls, but no volumetric differences were apparent in adolescent SAD patients relative to controls. Comorbid anxiety disorders and age of SAD onset were additional determinants of SAD-related volumetric differences in subcortical regions. To conclude, subtle volumetric alterations in subcortical regions in SAD were detected. Heterogeneity in age and clinical characteristics may partly explain inconsistencies in previous findings. The association between alterations in subcortical volumes and SAD illness progression deserves further investigation, especially from adolescence into adulthood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nynke A Groenewold
- Neuroscience Institute, Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
- South African Medical Research Council (SA-MRC) Unit on Child and Adolescent Health, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
| | - Janna Marie Bas-Hoogendam
- Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
- Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Alyssa R Amod
- Neuroscience Institute, Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Max A Laansma
- Department of Anatomy & Neurosciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Laura S Van Velzen
- Orygen & Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Moji Aghajani
- Leiden University, Institute of Education & Child Studies, Section Forensic Family & Youth Care, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Kevin Hilbert
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Hyuntaek Oh
- Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Ramiro Salas
- Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Michael E DeBakey VA Medical Center, Center for Translational Research on Inflammatory Diseases, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Andrea P Jackowski
- LiNC, Department of Psychiatry, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Pedro M Pan
- LiNC, Department of Psychiatry, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Giovanni A Salum
- Section on Negative Affect and Social Processes, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
| | - James R Blair
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health Centre, Mental Health Services, Capital Region of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Karina S Blair
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
| | - Joy Hirsch
- Departments of Psychiatry & Neurobiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Spiro P Pantazatos
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - Franklin R Schneier
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ardesheer Talati
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - Karin Roelofs
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Behavioral Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Inge Volman
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging Neuroimaging (WIN), Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain (FMRIB), Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK
| | - Laura Blanco-Hinojo
- MRI Research Unit, Department of Radiology, Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM G21, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Narcís Cardoner
- Department of Mental Health, University Hospital Parc Taulí-I3PT, Barcelona, Spain, Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, Carlos III Health Institute, Madrid, Spain
| | - Jesus Pujol
- MRI Research Unit, Department of Radiology, Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM G21, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Katja Beesdo-Baum
- Behavioral Epidemiology, Institute of Clinical Psycholog and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Christopher R K Ching
- Imaging Genetics Center, Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Marina del Rey, CA, USA
| | - Sophia I Thomopoulos
- Imaging Genetics Center, Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Marina del Rey, CA, USA
| | - Andreas Jansen
- Core-Facility Brainimaging, Faculty of Medicine, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Tilo Kircher
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Axel Krug
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Igor Nenadić
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Frederike Stein
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Udo Dannlowski
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Dominik Grotegerd
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Hannah Lemke
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Susanne Meinert
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Institute for Translational Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Alexandra Winter
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Michael Erb
- Department of Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Benjamin Kreifelts
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Qiyong Gong
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
- Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, China
| | - Su Lui
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
- Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, China
| | - Fei Zhu
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
- Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, China
| | - Benson Mwangi
- Louis A. Faillace, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Jair C Soares
- Louis A. Faillace, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Mon-Ju Wu
- Louis A. Faillace, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Ali Bayram
- Department of Neuroscience, Aziz Sancar Institute of Experimental Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Mesut Canli
- Department of Physiology, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Raşit Tükel
- Department of Psychiatry, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - P Michiel Westenberg
- Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Alexandre Heeren
- Psychological Science Research Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Henk R Cremers
- Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - David Hofmann
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Thomas Straube
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | | | - Christine Lochner
- SA-MRC Unit on Risk and Resilience in Mental Disorders, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
| | - Jutta Peterburs
- Institute of Systems Medicine and Faculty of Human Medicine, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Marie-José Van Tol
- Cognitive Neuroscience Center, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Raquel E Gur
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | | | - Bart Larsen
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | | | - Courtney A Filippi
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Andrea L Gold
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University Warren Alpert Medical School, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Anita Harrewijn
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - André Zugman
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Robin Bülow
- Institute for Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Hans J Grabe
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Site Rostock/Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Henry Völzke
- Institute for Community Medicine, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Katharina Wittfeld
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Site Rostock/Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Joscha Böhnlein
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Katharina Dohm
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Harald Kugel
- University Clinic for Radiology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Elisabeth Schrammen
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Peter Zwanzger
- KBO-Inn-Salzach-Klinikum, Munich, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Elisabeth J Leehr
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Lisa Sindermann
- Institute of Human Genetics, University of Bonn, School of Medicine & University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Tali M Ball
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Gregory A Fonzo
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, Austin, TX, USA
| | | | - Alan Simmons
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Murray B Stein
- Departments of Psychiatry & School of Public Health, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Heide Klumpp
- Departments of Psychology & Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - K Luan Phan
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health, the Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Tomas Furmark
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | | | | | - Suzanne N Avery
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | | | | | - Brandee Feola
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | | | - Chad M Sylvester
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Ulrike Lueken
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Dick J Veltman
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC location VUMC, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Anderson M Winkler
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Neda Jahanshad
- Imaging Genetics Center, Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Marina del Rey, CA, USA
| | - Daniel S Pine
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Paul M Thompson
- Imaging Genetics Center, Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Marina del Rey, CA, USA
| | - Dan J Stein
- Neuroscience Institute, Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- SA-MRC Unit on Risk & Resilience in Mental Disorders, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Nic J A Van der Wee
- Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, Netherlands
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5
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Zuberer A, Schwarz L, Kreifelts B, Wildgruber D, Erb M, Fallgatter A, Scheffler K, Ethofer T. Neural Basis of Impaired Emotion Recognition in Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging 2022; 7:680-687. [PMID: 33551283 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2020.11.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2020] [Revised: 11/23/2020] [Accepted: 11/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Deficits in emotion recognition have been repeatedly documented in patients diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but their neural basis is unknown so far. METHODS In the current study, adult patients with ADHD (n = 44) and healthy control subjects (n = 43) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging during explicit emotion recognition of stimuli expressing affective information in face, voice, or face-voice combinations. The employed experimental paradigm allowed us to delineate areas for processing audiovisual information based on their functional activation profile, including the bilateral posterior superior temporal gyrus/middle temporal gyrus, amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, and precuneus, as well as the right posterior thalamus. RESULTS As expected, unbiased hit rates for correct classification of the expressed emotions were lower in patients with ADHD than in healthy control subjects irrespective of the presented sensory modality. This deficit at a behavioral level was accompanied by lower activation in patients with ADHD versus healthy control subjects in the cortex adjacent to the right superior temporal gyrus/middle temporal gyrus and the right posterior thalamus, which represent key areas for processing socially relevant signals and their integration across modalities. A cortical region adjacent to the right posterior superior temporal gyrus was the only brain region that showed a significant correlation between brain activation and emotion identification performance. CONCLUSIONS Altogether, these results provide the first evidence for a potential neural substrate of the observed impairments in emotion recognition in adults with ADHD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agnieszka Zuberer
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.
| | - Lena Schwarz
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Benjamin Kreifelts
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Dirk Wildgruber
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Michael Erb
- Department of Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Andreas Fallgatter
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Klaus Scheffler
- Department of Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Thomas Ethofer
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Department of Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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6
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Bas‐Hoogendam JM, Groenewold NA, Aghajani M, Freitag GF, Harrewijn A, Hilbert K, Jahanshad N, Thomopoulos SI, Thompson PM, Veltman DJ, Winkler AM, Lueken U, Pine DS, Wee NJA, Stein DJ, Agosta F, Åhs F, An I, Alberton BAV, Andreescu C, Asami T, Assaf M, Avery SN, Nicholas L, Balderston, Barber JP, Battaglia M, Bayram A, Beesdo‐Baum K, Benedetti F, Berta R, Björkstrand J, Blackford JU, Blair JR, Karina S, Blair, Boehme S, Brambilla P, Burkhouse K, Cano M, Canu E, Cardinale EM, Cardoner N, Clauss JA, Cividini C, Critchley HD, Udo, Dannlowski, Deckert J, Demiralp T, Diefenbach GJ, Domschke K, Doruyter A, Dresler T, Erhardt A, Fallgatter AJ, Fañanás L, Brandee, Feola, Filippi CA, Filippi M, Fonzo GA, Forbes EE, Fox NA, Fredrikson M, Furmark T, Ge T, Gerber AJ, Gosnell SN, Grabe HJ, Grotegerd D, Gur RE, Gur RC, Harmer CJ, Harper J, Heeren A, Hettema J, Hofmann D, Hofmann SG, Jackowski AP, Andreas, Jansen, Kaczkurkin AN, Kingsley E, Kircher T, Kosti c M, Kreifelts B, Krug A, Larsen B, Lee S, Leehr EJ, Leibenluft E, Lochner C, Maggioni E, Makovac E, Mancini M, Manfro GG, Månsson KNT, Meeten F, Michałowski J, Milrod BL, Mühlberger A, Lilianne R, Mujica‐Parodi, Munjiza A, Mwangi B, Myers M, Igor Nenadi C, Neufang S, Nielsen JA, Oh H, Ottaviani C, Pan PM, Pantazatos SP, Martin P, Paulus, Perez‐Edgar K, Peñate W, Perino MT, Peterburs J, Pfleiderer B, Phan KL, Poletti S, Porta‐Casteràs D, Price RB, Pujol J, Andrea, Reinecke, Rivero F, Roelofs K, Rosso I, Saemann P, Salas R, Salum GA, Satterthwaite TD, Schneier F, Schruers KRJ, Schulz SM, Schwarzmeier H, Seeger FR, Smoller JW, Soares JC, Stark R, Stein MB, Straube B, Straube T, Strawn JR, Suarez‐Jimenez B, Boris, Suchan, Sylvester CM, Talati A, Tamburo E, Tükel R, Heuvel OA, Van der Auwera S, Nieuwenhuizen H, Tol M, van Velzen LS, Bort CV, Vermeiren RRJM, Visser RM, Volman I, Wannemüller A, Wendt J, Werwath KE, Westenberg PM, Wiemer J, Katharina, Wittfeld, Wu M, Yang Y, Zilverstand A, Zugman A, Zwiebel HL. ENIGMA-anxiety working group: Rationale for and organization of large-scale neuroimaging studies of anxiety disorders. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 43:83-112. [PMID: 32618421 PMCID: PMC8805695 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2020] [Revised: 05/09/2020] [Accepted: 06/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Anxiety disorders are highly prevalent and disabling but seem particularly tractable to investigation with translational neuroscience methodologies. Neuroimaging has informed our understanding of the neurobiology of anxiety disorders, but research has been limited by small sample sizes and low statistical power, as well as heterogenous imaging methodology. The ENIGMA-Anxiety Working Group has brought together researchers from around the world, in a harmonized and coordinated effort to address these challenges and generate more robust and reproducible findings. This paper elaborates on the concepts and methods informing the work of the working group to date, and describes the initial approach of the four subgroups studying generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and specific phobia. At present, the ENIGMA-Anxiety database contains information about more than 100 unique samples, from 16 countries and 59 institutes. Future directions include examining additional imaging modalities, integrating imaging and genetic data, and collaborating with other ENIGMA working groups. The ENIGMA consortium creates synergy at the intersection of global mental health and clinical neuroscience, and the ENIGMA-Anxiety Working Group extends the promise of this approach to neuroimaging research on anxiety disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janna Marie Bas‐Hoogendam
- Department of Developmental and Educational PsychologyLeiden University, Institute of Psychology Leiden The Netherlands
- Department of PsychiatryLeiden University Medical Center Leiden The Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition Leiden The Netherlands
| | - Nynke A. Groenewold
- Department of Psychiatry & Mental HealthUniversity of Cape Town Cape Town South Africa
| | - Moji Aghajani
- Department of PsychiatryAmsterdam UMC / VUMC Amsterdam The Netherlands
- Department of Research & InnovationGGZ inGeest Amsterdam The Netherlands
| | - Gabrielle F. Freitag
- National Institute of Mental Health, Emotion and Development Branch Bethesda Maryland USA
| | - Anita Harrewijn
- National Institute of Mental Health, Emotion and Development Branch Bethesda Maryland USA
| | - Kevin Hilbert
- Department of PsychologyHumboldt‐Universität zu Berlin Berlin Germany
| | - Neda Jahanshad
- University of Southern California Keck School of MedicineImaging Genetics Center, Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute Los Angeles California USA
| | - Sophia I. Thomopoulos
- University of Southern California Keck School of MedicineImaging Genetics Center, Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute Los Angeles California USA
| | - Paul M. Thompson
- University of Southern California Keck School of MedicineImaging Genetics Center, Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute Los Angeles California USA
| | - Dick J. Veltman
- Department of PsychiatryAmsterdam UMC / VUMC Amsterdam The Netherlands
| | - Anderson M. Winkler
- National Institute of Mental Health, Emotion and Development Branch Bethesda Maryland USA
| | - Ulrike Lueken
- Department of PsychologyHumboldt‐Universität zu Berlin Berlin Germany
| | - Daniel S. Pine
- National Institute of Mental Health, Emotion and Development Branch Bethesda Maryland USA
| | - Nic J. A. Wee
- Department of PsychiatryLeiden University Medical Center Leiden The Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition Leiden The Netherlands
| | - Dan J. Stein
- Department of Psychiatry & Mental HealthUniversity of Cape Town Cape Town South Africa
- University of Cape TownSouth African MRC Unit on Risk & Resilience in Mental Disorders Cape Town South Africa
- University of Cape TownNeuroscience Institute Cape Town South Africa
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7
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Wiegand A, Munk MHJ, Drohm S, Fallgatter AJ, MacIsaac JL, Kobor MS, Nieratschker V, Kreifelts B. Neural correlates of attentional control in social anxiety disorder: the impact of early-life adversity and DNA methylation. J Psychiatry Neurosci 2021; 46:E663-E674. [PMID: 34916236 PMCID: PMC8687622 DOI: 10.1503/jpn.210064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2021] [Revised: 08/10/2021] [Accepted: 10/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Social anxiety disorder is characterized by intense fear and avoidance of social interactions and scrutiny by others. Although alterations in attentional control seem to play a central role in the psychopathology of social anxiety disorder, the neural underpinnings in prefrontal brain regions have not yet been fully clarified. METHODS The present study used functional MRI in participants (age 18-50 yr) with social anxiety disorder (n = 42, 31 female) and without (n = 58, 33 female). It investigated the interrelation of the effects of social anxiety disorder and early-life adversity (a main environmental risk factor of social anxiety disorder) on brain activity during an attentional control task. We applied DNA methylation analysis to determine whether epigenetic modulation in the gene encoding the glucocorticoid receptor, NR3C1, might play a mediating role in this process. RESULTS We identified 2 brain regions in the left and medial prefrontal cortex that exhibited an interaction effect of social anxiety disorder and early-life adversity. In participants with low levels of early-life adversity, neural activity in response to disorder-related stimuli was increased in association with social anxiety disorder. In participants with high levels of early-life adversity, neural activity was increased only in participants without social anxiety disorder. NR3C1 DNA methylation partly mediated the effect of social anxiety disorder on brain activity as a function of early-life adversity. LIMITATIONS The absence of behavioural correlates associated with social anxiety disorder limited functional interpretation of the results. CONCLUSION These findings demonstrate that the neurobiological processes that underlie social anxiety disorder might be fundamentally different depending on experiences of early-life adversity. Long-lasting effects of early-life adversity might be encoded in NR3C1 DNA methylation and entail alterations in social anxiety disorder-related activity patterns in the neural network of attentional control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ariane Wiegand
- From the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany (Wiegand, Munk, Drohm, Fallgatter, Nieratschker, Kreifelts); the International Max Planck Research School for Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany (Wiegand); the Department of Biology, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany (Munk); the Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia-BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC (MacIsaac, Kobor); and the Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Tübingen, Germany (Nieratschker)
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8
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Martinelli A, Kreifelts B, Wildgruber D, Bernhard A, Ackermann K, Freitag CM, Schwenck C. Aggression differentially modulates neural correlates of social intention attribution to benevolent, tickling and taunting laughter: An fMRI study in children and adolescents. Soc Neurosci 2021; 16:303-316. [PMID: 33759708 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2021.1908420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Human laughter is a powerful means of communicating social intention, ranging from welcoming and friendly to hostile and ridiculing. To be communicated accurately, the recipient must correctly identify the laugher's underlying social intention. Regular misattribution of the social intention of others has been associated with maladaptive psychosocial development, in particular with aggressive behavior. We investigated the relationship between self-reported aggressive behavior and the neural correlates of social intention attributions to different audiovisual laughter types in 50 healthy children and adolescents (29 female, 10-18 years, M 15.5, SD 2.2) using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Trial-by-trial associations of neural response and behavioral attributions were distinctly modulated by aggression for benevolent versus taunting and tickling laughter. With increasing aggression, hostile misattributions of benevolent laughter were associated with decreased dorsolateral prefrontal and anterior insular cortex activation. In contrast, hostile attributions of taunting and tickling laughter were associated with increased superior frontal, superior temporal, medial prefrontal, supplementary motor, and anterior and mid-cingulate cortex activation. We argue that aggression may be associated with down-regulated emotional saliency of benevolent laughter, whereas up-regulated neural responses to taunting laughter may underlie a heightened sensitivity to hostility or acceptance of taunting behavior in more aggressive individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Martinelli
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
| | - B Kreifelts
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - D Wildgruber
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - A Bernhard
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
| | - K Ackermann
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
| | - C M Freitag
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
| | - C Schwenck
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany.,Department of Special Needs Educational and Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany
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9
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Wiegand A, Kreifelts B, Munk MHJ, Geiselhart N, Ramadori KE, MacIsaac JL, Fallgatter AJ, Kobor MS, Nieratschker V. DNA methylation differences associated with social anxiety disorder and early life adversity. Transl Psychiatry 2021; 11:104. [PMID: 33542190 PMCID: PMC7862482 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-021-01225-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2020] [Revised: 12/08/2020] [Accepted: 12/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a psychiatric disorder characterized by extensive fear in social situations. Multiple genetic and environmental factors are known to contribute to its pathogenesis. One of the main environmental risk factors is early life adversity (ELA). Evidence is emerging that epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation might play an important role in the biological mechanisms underlying SAD and ELA. To investigate the relationship between ELA, DNA methylation, and SAD, we performed an epigenome-wide association study for SAD and ELA examining DNA from whole blood of a cohort of 143 individuals using DNA methylation arrays. We identified two differentially methylated regions (DMRs) associated with SAD located within the genes SLC43A2 and TNXB. As this was the first epigenome-wide association study for SAD, it is worth noting that both genes have previously been associated with panic disorder. Further, we identified two DMRs associated with ELA within the SLC17A3 promoter region and the SIAH3 gene and several DMRs that were associated with the interaction of SAD and ELA. Of these, the regions within C2CD2L and MRPL28 showed the largest difference in DNA methylation. Lastly, we found that two DMRs were associated with both the severity of social anxiety and ELA, however, neither of them was found to mediate the contribution of ELA to SAD later in life. Future studies are needed to replicate our findings in independent cohorts and to investigate the biological pathways underlying these effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ariane Wiegand
- grid.10392.390000 0001 2190 1447Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany ,grid.10392.390000 0001 2190 1447Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Benjamin Kreifelts
- grid.10392.390000 0001 2190 1447Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Matthias H. J. Munk
- grid.10392.390000 0001 2190 1447Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany ,grid.6546.10000 0001 0940 1669Department of Biology, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Nadja Geiselhart
- grid.10392.390000 0001 2190 1447Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Katia E. Ramadori
- grid.17091.3e0000 0001 2288 9830Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, V5Z 4H4 BC Canada
| | - Julia L. MacIsaac
- grid.17091.3e0000 0001 2288 9830Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, V5Z 4H4 BC Canada
| | - Andreas J. Fallgatter
- grid.10392.390000 0001 2190 1447Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Michael S. Kobor
- grid.17091.3e0000 0001 2288 9830Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, V5Z 4H4 BC Canada
| | - Vanessa Nieratschker
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany. .,Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Tübingen, Germany.
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10
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Wiegand A, Drohm S, Munk M, Fallgatter A, Kobor M, Kreifelts B. DNA methylation differences with respect to early life adversity and social anxiety disorder. PHARMACOPSYCHIATRY 2020. [DOI: 10.1055/s-0039-3403012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- A Wiegand
- Universitätsklinikum Tübingen, Germany
| | - S Drohm
- Universitätsklinikum Tübingen, Germany
| | - M Munk
- Universitätsklinikum Tübingen, Germany
| | | | - M Kobor
- Universitätsklinikum Tübingen, Germany
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11
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Kreifelts B, Ethofer T, Wiegand A, Brück C, Wächter S, Erb M, Lotze M, Wildgruber D. The Neural Correlates of Face-Voice-Integration in Social Anxiety Disorder. Front Psychiatry 2020; 11:657. [PMID: 32765311 PMCID: PMC7381153 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00657] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2020] [Accepted: 06/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Faces and voices are very important sources of threat in social anxiety disorder (SAD), a common psychiatric disorder where core elements are fears of social exclusion and negative evaluation. Previous research in social anxiety evidenced increased cerebral responses to negative facial or vocal expressions and also generally increased hemodynamic responses to voices and faces. But it is unclear if also the cerebral process of face-voice-integration is altered in SAD. Applying functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated the correlates of the audiovisual integration of dynamic faces and voices in SAD as compared to healthy individuals. In the bilateral midsections of the superior temporal sulcus (STS) increased integration effects in SAD were observed driven by greater activation increases during audiovisual stimulation as compared to auditory stimulation. This effect was accompanied by increased functional connectivity with the visual association cortex and a more anterior position of the individual integration maxima along the STS in SAD. These findings demonstrate that the audiovisual integration of facial and vocal cues in SAD is not only systematically altered with regard to intensity and connectivity but also the individual location of the integration areas within the STS. These combined findings offer a novel perspective on the neuronal representation of social signal processing in individuals suffering from SAD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Kreifelts
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Thomas Ethofer
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Department for Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Ariane Wiegand
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Carolin Brück
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Sarah Wächter
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Michael Erb
- Department for Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Martin Lotze
- Functional Imaging Group, Department for Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Dirk Wildgruber
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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12
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Ethofer T, Stegmaier S, Koch K, Reinl M, Kreifelts B, Schwarz L, Erb M, Scheffler K, Wildgruber D. Are you laughing at me? Neural correlates of social intent attribution to auditory and visual laughter. Hum Brain Mapp 2019; 41:353-361. [PMID: 31642167 PMCID: PMC7268062 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24806] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2019] [Revised: 08/30/2019] [Accepted: 09/15/2019] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Laughter is a multifaceted signal, which can convey social acceptance facilitating social bonding as well as social rejection inflicting social pain. In the current study, we addressed the neural correlates of social intent attribution to auditory or visual laughter within an fMRI study to identify brain areas showing linear increases of activation with social intent ratings. Negative social intent attributions were associated with activation increases within the medial prefrontal cortex/anterior cingulate cortex (mPFC/ACC). Interestingly, negative social intent attributions of auditory laughter were represented more rostral than visual laughter within this area. Our findings corroborate the role of the mPFC/ACC as key node for processing “social pain” with distinct modality‐specific subregions. Other brain areas that showed an increase of activation included bilateral inferior frontal gyrus and right superior/middle temporal gyrus (STG/MTG) for visually presented laughter and bilateral STG for auditory presented laughter with no overlap across modalities. Similarly, positive social intent attributions were linked to hemodynamic responses within the right inferior parietal lobe and right middle frontal gyrus, but there was no overlap of activity for visual and auditory laughter. Our findings demonstrate that social intent attribution to auditory and visual laughter is located in neighboring, but spatially distinct neural structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Ethofer
- Department of General Psychiatry, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany.,Department of Biomedical Resonance, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Sophia Stegmaier
- Department of General Psychiatry, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Katharina Koch
- Department of General Psychiatry, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Maren Reinl
- Department of General Psychiatry, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Benjamin Kreifelts
- Department of General Psychiatry, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Lena Schwarz
- Department of General Psychiatry, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Michael Erb
- Department of Biomedical Resonance, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Klaus Scheffler
- Department of Biomedical Resonance, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany.,Max-Planck-Institute for Biological Cybernetics, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Dirk Wildgruber
- Department of General Psychiatry, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
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13
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Schwarz L, Kreifelts B, Wildgruber D, Erb M, Scheffler K, Ethofer T. Properties of face localizer activations and their application in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) fingerprinting. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0214997. [PMID: 31013276 PMCID: PMC6478291 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0214997] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2018] [Accepted: 03/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Functional localizers are particularly prevalent in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies concerning face processing. In this study, we extend the knowledge on face localizers regarding four important aspects: First, activation differences in occipital and fusiform face areas (OFA/FFA) and amygdala are characterized by increased activation while precuneus and medial prefrontal cortex show decreased deactivation to faces versus control stimuli. The face-selective posterior superior temporal sulcus is a hybrid area exhibiting increased activation within its inferior and decreased deactivation within its superior part. Second, the employed control stimuli can impact on whether a region is classified in group analyses as face-selective or not. We specifically investigated this for recently described cytoarchitectonic subregions of the fusiform cortex (FG-2/FG-4). Averaged activity across voxels in FG-4 was stronger for faces than objects, houses, or landscapes. In FG-2, averaged activity was only significantly stronger in comparison with landscapes, but small peaks within this area were detected for comparison versus objects and houses. Third, reproducibility of individual peak activations is excellent for right FFA and quite good for right OFA, whereas within all other areas it was too low to provide valid information on time-invariant individual peaks. Finally, the fine-grained spatial activation patterns in right OFA and FFA are both time-invariant within each individual and sufficiently different between individuals to enable identification of individual participants with near-perfect precision (fMRI fingerprinting).
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Affiliation(s)
- Lena Schwarz
- University Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
- Department for Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, University Hospital Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Benjamin Kreifelts
- University Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Dirk Wildgruber
- University Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Michael Erb
- Department for Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, University Hospital Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Klaus Scheffler
- Department for Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, University Hospital Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
- Magnetic Resonance Centre, Max-Planck-Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Thomas Ethofer
- University Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
- Department for Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, University Hospital Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
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14
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Karle KN, Ethofer T, Jacob H, Brück C, Erb M, Lotze M, Nizielski S, Schütz A, Wildgruber D, Kreifelts B. Neurobiological correlates of emotional intelligence in voice and face perception networks. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2018; 13:233-244. [PMID: 29365199 PMCID: PMC5827352 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsy001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2016] [Accepted: 01/07/2018] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Facial expressions and voice modulations are among the most important communicational signals to convey emotional information. The ability to correctly interpret this information is highly relevant for successful social interaction and represents an integral component of emotional competencies that have been conceptualized under the term emotional intelligence. Here, we investigated the relationship of emotional intelligence as measured with the Salovey-Caruso-Emotional-Intelligence-Test (MSCEIT) with cerebral voice and face processing using functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging. MSCEIT scores were positively correlated with increased voice-sensitivity and gray matter volume of the insula accompanied by voice-sensitivity enhanced connectivity between the insula and the temporal voice area, indicating generally increased salience of voices. Conversely, in the face processing system, higher MSCEIT scores were associated with decreased face-sensitivity and gray matter volume of the fusiform face area. Taken together, these findings point to an alteration in the balance of cerebral voice and face processing systems in the form of an attenuated face-vs-voice bias as one potential factor underpinning emotional intelligence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathrin N Karle
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Thomas Ethofer
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.,Department for Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Heike Jacob
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Carolin Brück
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Michael Erb
- Department for Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Martin Lotze
- Functional Imaging Group, Department for Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology, University of Greifswald, 17475 Greifswald, Germany
| | - Sophia Nizielski
- Department of Psychology, Technical University Chemnitz, 09111 Chemnitz, Germany
| | - Astrid Schütz
- Department of Psychology, University of Bamberg, 96045 Bamberg, Germany
| | - Dirk Wildgruber
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Benjamin Kreifelts
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
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15
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Nuber S, Jacob H, Kreifelts B, Martinelli A, Wildgruber D. Attenuated impression of irony created by the mismatch of verbal and nonverbal cues in patients with autism spectrum disorder. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0205750. [PMID: 30321214 PMCID: PMC6188779 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0205750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2018] [Accepted: 10/01/2018] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Perception of irony has been observed to be impaired in adults with autism spectrum disorder. In typically developed adults, the mismatch of verbal and nonverbal emotional cues can be perceived as an expression of irony even in the absence of any further contextual information. In this study, we evaluate to what extent high functioning autists perceive this incongruence as expressing irony. Our results show that incongruent verbal and nonverbal signals create an impression of irony significantly less often in participants with high-functioning autism than in typically developed control subjects. The extent of overall autistic symptomatology as measured with the autism-spectrum questionnaire (AQ), however, does not correlate with the reduced tendency to attribute incongruent stimuli as expressing irony. Therefore, the attenuation in irony attribution might rather be related to specific subdomains of autistic traits, such as a reduced tendency to interpret communicative signals in terms of complex intentional mental states. The observed differences in irony attribution support the assumption that a less pronounced tendency to engage in higher order mentalization processes might underlie the impairment of pragmatic language understanding in high functioning autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Nuber
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Heike Jacob
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Benjamin Kreifelts
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Anne Martinelli
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Dirk Wildgruber
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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16
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Martinelli A, Kreifelts B, Wildgruber D, Ackermann K, Bernhard A, Freitag CM, Schwenck C. Aggression modulates neural correlates of hostile intention attribution to laughter in children. Neuroimage 2018; 184:621-631. [PMID: 30266262 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.09.066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2018] [Revised: 09/01/2018] [Accepted: 09/24/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The tendency to interpret nonverbal social signals as hostile in intention is associated with aggressive responding, poor social functioning and mental illness, and can already be observed in childhood. To investigate the neural correlates of such hostile attributions of social intention, we performed a functional magnetic imaging study in 10-18 year old children and adolescents. Fifty healthy participants rated videos of laughter, which they were told to imagine as being directed towards them, as friendly versus hostile in social intention. Hostile intention ratings were associated with neural response in the right temporal voice area (TVA). Moreover, self-reported trait physical aggression modulated this relationship in both the right TVA and bilateral lingual gyrus, with stronger associations between hostile intention ratings and neural activation in children with higher trait physical aggression scores. Functional connectivity results showed decreased connectivity between the right TVA and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex with increasing trait physical aggression for making hostile social intention attributions. We conclude that children's social intention attributions are more strongly related to activation of early face and voice-processing regions with increasing trait physical aggression.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Martinelli
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Deutschordenstrasse 50, 60327, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
| | - B Kreifelts
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Calwerstrasse 14, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - D Wildgruber
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Calwerstrasse 14, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - K Ackermann
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Deutschordenstrasse 50, 60327, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - A Bernhard
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Deutschordenstrasse 50, 60327, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - C M Freitag
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Deutschordenstrasse 50, 60327, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - C Schwenck
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Deutschordenstrasse 50, 60327, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Department of Special Needs Educational and Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, University of Giessen, Otto-Behaghel-Straße 10C, 35394, Giessen, Germany
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17
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Ehlis AC, Barth B, Hudak J, Storchak H, Weber L, Kimmig ACS, Kreifelts B, Dresler T, Fallgatter AJ. Near-Infrared Spectroscopy as a New Tool for Neurofeedback Training: Applications in Psychiatry and Methodological Considerations. Jpn Psychol Res 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/jpr.12225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
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18
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Wildgruber D, Ritter J, Jacob H, Kreifelts B. PB5. Perspective taking during laughter perception. Clin Neurophysiol 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2018.04.630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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19
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Martinelli A, Kreifelts B, Wildgruber D, Ackermann K, Bernhard A, Freitag C, Schwenck C. FV6. Intention attribution and neural processing of laughter in female and male adolescents with conduct disorder. Clin Neurophysiol 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2018.04.620] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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20
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Martinelli A, Kreifelts B, Wildgruber D, Bernhard A, Ackermann K, Freitag C, Schwenck C. PB 4 Neural correlates of intent attribution and laughter processing in children and adolescents. Clin Neurophysiol 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2017.06.062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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21
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Kreifelts B, Brück C, Ethofer T, Ritter J, Weigel L, Erb M, Wildgruber D. Prefrontal mediation of emotion regulation in social anxiety disorder during laughter perception. Neuropsychologia 2017; 96:175-183. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.01.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2015] [Revised: 01/11/2017] [Accepted: 01/13/2017] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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22
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Jacob H, Kreifelts B, Nizielski S, Schütz A, Wildgruber D. Effects of Emotional Intelligence on the Impression of Irony Created by the Mismatch between Verbal and Nonverbal Cues. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0163211. [PMID: 27716831 PMCID: PMC5055337 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0163211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2015] [Accepted: 09/06/2016] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Emotional information is conveyed through verbal and nonverbal signals, with nonverbal cues often being considered the decisive factor in the judgment of others' emotional states. The aim of the present study was to examine how verbal and nonverbal cues are integrated by perceivers. More specifically, we tested whether the mismatch between verbal and nonverbal information was perceived as an expression of irony. Moreover, we investigated the effects of emotional intelligence on the impression of irony. The findings revealed that the mismatch between verbal and nonverbal information created the impression of irony. Furthermore, participants higher in emotional intelligence were faster at rating such stimuli as ironic expressions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heike Jacob
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Benjamin Kreifelts
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Sophia Nizielski
- Department of Psychology, Chemnitz University of Technology, Chemnitz, Germany
| | - Astrid Schütz
- Department of Psychology, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany
| | - Dirk Wildgruber
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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23
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Bisch J, Kreifelts B, Bretscher J, Wildgruber D, Fallgatter A, Ethofer T. Emotion perception in adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. J Neural Transm (Vienna) 2016; 123:961-70. [PMID: 26850439 DOI: 10.1007/s00702-016-1513-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2015] [Accepted: 01/20/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
This study examined identification of emotional information in facial expression, prosody, and their combination in 23 adult patients with combined attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) versus 31 healthy controls (HC) matched for gender, age, and education. We employed a stimulus set which was carefully balanced for valence as well as recognizability of the expressed emotions as determined in an independent sample of HC to avoid potential biases due to different levels of task difficulty. ADHD patients were characterized by impaired recognition of all employed categories (neutral, happiness, eroticism, disgust, anger). Basic cognitive functions as assessed by neuropsychological testing, such as sustained attention, constancy of alertness, and verbal intelligence partially explained lower recognition rates. Removal of the correlated variance by means of regression analyses did not abolish lower performance in ADHD indicating deficits in social cognition independent of these neuropsychological factors (p < 0.05). Lower performance correlated with self-rated emotional intelligence (r = 0.38, p < 0.05) indicating that adults with ADHD are aware of their problems in emotion perception. ADHD patients could partly compensate their deficit in unimodal emotion perception by audiovisual integration as revealed by larger gains in emotion recognition accuracy during bimodal presentation (p < 0.05) as compared to HC. These behavioral results can serve as foundation for future neuroimaging studies and point rather towards sensory-specific regions than audiovisual integration areas in perception of emotional information in adult ADHD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeanne Bisch
- Department of General Psychiatry, University of Tübingen, Calwer Straße 14, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Benjamin Kreifelts
- Department of General Psychiatry, University of Tübingen, Calwer Straße 14, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Johannes Bretscher
- Department of General Psychiatry, University of Tübingen, Calwer Straße 14, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Dirk Wildgruber
- Department of General Psychiatry, University of Tübingen, Calwer Straße 14, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Andreas Fallgatter
- Department of General Psychiatry, University of Tübingen, Calwer Straße 14, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Thomas Ethofer
- Department of General Psychiatry, University of Tübingen, Calwer Straße 14, 72076, Tübingen, Germany. .,Department of Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
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24
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Wildgruber D, Kreifelts B. Evolutionary perspectives on emotions and their link to intentions, dispositions and behavior: Comment on "The quartet theory of human emotions: An integrative and neurofunctional model" by S. Koelsch et al. Phys Life Rev 2015; 13:89-91. [PMID: 25911257 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2015.04.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2015] [Accepted: 04/15/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Dirk Wildgruber
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Benjamin Kreifelts
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Germany
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25
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Abstract
BACKGROUND Laughter is a powerful signal of social acceptance or rejection while the fear of being embarrassed and humiliated is central in social anxiety (SA). This type of anxiety is associated with cognitive biases indicating increased sensitivity to social threat as well as with deficits in emotion regulation. Both are thought to be implicated in the maintenance of social anxiety. METHOD Using laughter as a novel stimulus, we investigated cognitive biases and their modulation through emotion regulation and cue ambiguity in individuals with varying degrees of SA (N = 60). RESULTS A combination of a negative laughter interpretation bias and an attention bias away from joyful/social inclusive laughter in SA was observed. Both biases were not attributable to effects of general anxiety and were closely correlated with the concept of gelotophobia, the fear of being laughed at. DISCUSSION Thus, our study demonstrates altered laughter perception in SA. Furthermore, it highlights the usefulness of laughter as a highly prevalent social signal for future research on the interrelations of interpretation and attention biases in SA and their modulation through emotion regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Ritter
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Calwerstr. 14, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Carolin Brück
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Calwerstr. 14, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Heike Jacob
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Calwerstr. 14, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Dirk Wildgruber
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Calwerstr. 14, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Benjamin Kreifelts
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Calwerstr. 14, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
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26
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Klasen M, Kreifelts B, Chen YH, Seubert J, Mathiak K. Neural processing of emotion in multimodal settings. Front Hum Neurosci 2014; 8:822. [PMID: 25374523 PMCID: PMC4204532 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00822] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2014] [Accepted: 09/26/2014] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Martin Klasen
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University Aachen, Germany ; Jülich Aachen Research Alliance-Translational Brain Medicine, RWTH Aachen University Aachen, Germany
| | - Benjamin Kreifelts
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tuebingen Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Yu-Han Chen
- Department of Psychiatry, The University of New Mexico School of Medicine Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | - Janina Seubert
- Psychology Division, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Klaus Mathiak
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University Aachen, Germany ; Jülich Aachen Research Alliance-Translational Brain Medicine, RWTH Aachen University Aachen, Germany
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27
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Kreifelts B, Brück C, Ritter J, Ethofer T, Domin M, Lotze M, Jacob H, Schlipf S, Wildgruber D. They are laughing at me: cerebral mediation of cognitive biases in social anxiety. PLoS One 2014; 9:e99815. [PMID: 24918625 PMCID: PMC4053467 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0099815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2014] [Accepted: 05/20/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The fear of embarrassment and humiliation is the central element of social anxiety. This frequent condition is associated with cognitive biases indicating increased sensitivity to signals of social threat, which are assumed to play a causal role in the maintenance of social anxiety. Here, we employed laughter, a potent medium for the expression of acceptance and rejection, as an experimental stimulus in participants selected for varying degrees of social anxiety to identify cerebral mediators of cognitive biases in social anxiety using functional magnetic resonance imaging in combination with mediation analysis. We directly demonstrated that cerebral activation patterns within the dorsal attention network including the left dorsolateral and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex mediate the influence of social anxiety on laughter perception. This mediation proved to be specific for social anxiety after correction for measures of general state and trait anxiety and occurred most prominently under bimodal audiovisual laughter presentation when compared with monomodal auditory or visual laughter cues. Considering the possibility to modulate cognitive biases and cerebral activity by neuropsychological trainings, non-invasive electrophysiological stimulation and psychotherapy, this study represents a starting point for a whole line of translational research projects and identifies promising targets for electrophysiological interventions aiming to alleviate cognitive biases and symptom severity in social anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Kreifelts
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Carolin Brück
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Jan Ritter
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Thomas Ethofer
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Department of Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Martin Domin
- Department for Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Martin Lotze
- Department for Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Heike Jacob
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Sarah Schlipf
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Dirk Wildgruber
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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28
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Brück C, Kreifelts B, Gößling-Arnold C, Wertheimer J, Wildgruber D. 'Inner voices': the cerebral representation of emotional voice cues described in literary texts. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2014; 9:1819-27. [PMID: 24396008 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nst180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
While non-verbal affective voice cues are generally recognized as a crucial behavioral guide in any day-to-day conversation their role as a powerful source of information may extend well beyond close-up personal interactions and include other modes of communication such as written discourse or literature as well. Building on the assumption that similarities between the different 'modes' of voice cues may not only be limited to their functional role but may also include cerebral mechanisms engaged in the decoding process, the present functional magnetic resonance imaging study aimed at exploring brain responses associated with processing emotional voice signals described in literary texts. Emphasis was placed on evaluating 'voice' sensitive as well as task- and emotion-related modulations of brain activation frequently associated with the decoding of acoustic vocal cues. Obtained findings suggest that several similarities emerge with respect to the perception of acoustic voice signals: results identify the superior temporal, lateral and medial frontal cortex as well as the posterior cingulate cortex and cerebellum to contribute to the decoding process, with similarities to acoustic voice perception reflected in a 'voice'-cue preference of temporal voice areas as well as an emotion-related modulation of the medial frontal cortex and a task-modulated response of the lateral frontal cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolin Brück
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen 72076, Germany, Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience (CIN), Tübingen 72076, Germany and Department of Comparative Literature, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen 72074, Germany Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen 72076, Germany, Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience (CIN), Tübingen 72076, Germany and Department of Comparative Literature, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen 72074, Germany
| | - Benjamin Kreifelts
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen 72076, Germany, Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience (CIN), Tübingen 72076, Germany and Department of Comparative Literature, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen 72074, Germany
| | - Christina Gößling-Arnold
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen 72076, Germany, Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience (CIN), Tübingen 72076, Germany and Department of Comparative Literature, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen 72074, Germany Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen 72076, Germany, Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience (CIN), Tübingen 72076, Germany and Department of Comparative Literature, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen 72074, Germany
| | - Jürgen Wertheimer
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen 72076, Germany, Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience (CIN), Tübingen 72076, Germany and Department of Comparative Literature, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen 72074, Germany Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen 72076, Germany, Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience (CIN), Tübingen 72076, Germany and Department of Comparative Literature, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen 72074, Germany
| | - Dirk Wildgruber
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen 72076, Germany, Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience (CIN), Tübingen 72076, Germany and Department of Comparative Literature, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen 72074, Germany Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen 72076, Germany, Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience (CIN), Tübingen 72076, Germany and Department of Comparative Literature, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen 72074, Germany
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Abstract
Results from studies on gender differences in emotion recognition vary, depending on the types of emotion and the sensory modalities used for stimulus presentation. This makes comparability between different studies problematic. This study investigated emotion recognition of healthy participants (N = 84; 40 males; ages 20 to 70 years), using dynamic stimuli, displayed by two genders in three different sensory modalities (auditory, visual, audio-visual) and five emotional categories. The participants were asked to categorise the stimuli on the basis of their nonverbal emotional content (happy, alluring, neutral, angry, and disgusted). Hit rates and category selection biases were analysed. Women were found to be more accurate in recognition of emotional prosody. This effect was partially mediated by hearing loss for the frequency of 8,000 Hz. Moreover, there was a gender-specific selection bias for alluring stimuli: Men, as compared to women, chose "alluring" more often when a stimulus was presented by a woman as compared to a man.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lena Lambrecht
- a Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy , Eberhard-Karls-University of Tübingen , Tübingen , Germany
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30
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Kreifelts B, Jacob H, Brück C, Erb M, Ethofer T, Wildgruber D. Non-verbal emotion communication training induces specific changes in brain function and structure. Front Hum Neurosci 2013; 7:648. [PMID: 24146641 PMCID: PMC3797968 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00648] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2013] [Accepted: 09/18/2013] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
The perception of emotional cues from voice and face is essential for social interaction. However, this process is altered in various psychiatric conditions along with impaired social functioning. Emotion communication trainings have been demonstrated to improve social interaction in healthy individuals and to reduce emotional communication deficits in psychiatric patients. Here, we investigated the impact of a non-verbal emotion communication training (NECT) on cerebral activation and brain structure in a controlled and combined functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and voxel-based morphometry study. NECT-specific reductions in brain activity occurred in a distributed set of brain regions including face and voice processing regions as well as emotion processing- and motor-related regions presumably reflecting training-induced familiarization with the evaluation of face/voice stimuli. Training-induced changes in non-verbal emotion sensitivity at the behavioral level and the respective cerebral activation patterns were correlated in the face-selective cortical areas in the posterior superior temporal sulcus and fusiform gyrus for valence ratings and in the temporal pole, lateral prefrontal cortex and midbrain/thalamus for the response times. A NECT-induced increase in gray matter (GM) volume was observed in the fusiform face area. Thus, NECT induces both functional and structural plasticity in the face processing system as well as functional plasticity in the emotion perception and evaluation system. We propose that functional alterations are presumably related to changes in sensory tuning in the decoding of emotional expressions. Taken together, these findings highlight that the present experimental design may serve as a valuable tool to investigate the altered behavioral and neuronal processing of emotional cues in psychiatric disorders as well as the impact of therapeutic interventions on brain function and structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Kreifelts
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen Tübingen, Germany
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Ethofer T, Bretscher J, Wiethoff S, Bisch J, Schlipf S, Wildgruber D, Kreifelts B. Functional responses and structural connections of cortical areas for processing faces and voices in the superior temporal sulcus. Neuroimage 2013; 76:45-56. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.02.064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2012] [Revised: 01/17/2013] [Accepted: 02/26/2013] [Indexed: 10/27/2022] Open
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Wildgruber D, Szameitat DP, Ethofer T, Brück C, Alter K, Grodd W, Kreifelts B. Different types of laughter modulate connectivity within distinct parts of the laughter perception network. PLoS One 2013; 8:e63441. [PMID: 23667619 PMCID: PMC3648477 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0063441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2012] [Accepted: 04/04/2013] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Laughter is an ancient signal of social communication among humans and non-human primates. Laughter types with complex social functions (e.g., taunt and joy) presumably evolved from the unequivocal and reflex-like social bonding signal of tickling laughter already present in non-human primates. Here, we investigated the modulations of cerebral connectivity associated with different laughter types as well as the effects of attention shifts between implicit and explicit processing of social information conveyed by laughter using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Complex social laughter types and tickling laughter were found to modulate connectivity in two distinguishable but partially overlapping parts of the laughter perception network irrespective of task instructions. Connectivity changes, presumably related to the higher acoustic complexity of tickling laughter, occurred between areas in the prefrontal cortex and the auditory association cortex, potentially reflecting higher demands on acoustic analysis associated with increased information load on auditory attention, working memory, evaluation and response selection processes. In contrast, the higher degree of socio-relational information in complex social laughter types was linked to increases of connectivity between auditory association cortices, the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and brain areas associated with mentalizing as well as areas in the visual associative cortex. These modulations might reflect automatic analysis of acoustic features, attention direction to informative aspects of the laughter signal and the retention of those in working memory during evaluation processes. These processes may be associated with visual imagery supporting the formation of inferences on the intentions of our social counterparts. Here, the right dorsolateral precentral cortex appears as a network node potentially linking the functions of auditory and visual associative sensory cortices with those of the mentalizing-associated anterior mediofrontal cortex during the decoding of social information in laughter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dirk Wildgruber
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Department for Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Diana P. Szameitat
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Thomas Ethofer
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Department for Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Carolin Brück
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Kai Alter
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Wolfgang Grodd
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Aachen, Aachen, Germany
| | - Benjamin Kreifelts
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- * E-mail:
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Jacob H, Kreifelts B, Brück C, Nizielski S, Schütz A, Wildgruber D. Nonverbal signals speak up: association between perceptual nonverbal dominance and emotional intelligence. Cogn Emot 2012; 27:783-99. [PMID: 23134564 DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2012.739999] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Emotional communication uses verbal and nonverbal means. In case of conflicting signals, nonverbal information is assumed to have a stronger impact. It is unclear, however, whether perceptual nonverbal dominance varies between individuals and whether it is linked to emotional intelligence. Using audiovisual stimulus material comprising verbal and nonverbal emotional cues that were varied independently, perceptual nonverbal dominance profiles and their relations to emotional intelligence were examined. Nonverbal dominance was found in every participant, ranging from 55 to 100%. Moreover, emotional intelligence, particularly the ability to understand emotions, correlated positively with nonverbal dominance. Furthermore, higher overall emotional intelligence as well as a higher ability to understand emotions were linked to smaller reaction time differences between emotionally incongruent and congruent stimuli. The association between perceptual nonverbal dominance and emotional intelligence, and more specifically the ability to understand emotions, might reflect an adaptive process driven by the experience of higher authenticity in nonverbal cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heike Jacob
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
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Abstract
The recognition of nonverbal emotional signals and the integration of multimodal emotional information are essential for successful social communication among humans of any age. Whereas prior studies of age dependency in the recognition of emotion often focused on either the prosodic or the facial aspect of nonverbal signals, our purpose was to create a more naturalistic setting by presenting dynamic stimuli under three experimental conditions: auditory, visual, and audiovisual. Eighty-four healthy participants (women = 44, men = 40; age range 20-70 years) were tested for their abilities to recognize emotions either mono- or bimodally on the basis of emotional (happy, alluring, angry, disgusted) and neutral nonverbal stimuli from voice and face. Additionally, we assessed visual and auditory acuity, working memory, verbal intelligence, and emotional intelligence to explore potential explanatory effects of these population parameters on the relationship between age and emotion recognition. Applying unbiased hit rates as performance measure, we analyzed data with linear regression analyses, t tests, and with mediation analyses. We found a linear, age-related decrease in emotion recognition independent of stimulus modality and emotional category. In contrast, the improvement in recognition rates associated with audiovisual integration of bimodal stimuli seems to be maintained over the life span. The reduction in emotion recognition ability at an older age could not be sufficiently explained by age-related decreases in hearing, vision, working memory, and verbal intelligence. These findings suggest alterations in social perception at a level of complexity beyond basic perceptional and cognitive abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lena Lambrecht
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard-Karls-University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Brück C, Kreifelts B, Wildgruber D. From evolutionary roots to a broad spectrum of complex human emotions: Future research perspectives in the field of emotional vocal communication: Reply to comments on "Emotional voices in context: A neurobiological model of multimodal affective information processing". Phys Life Rev 2011; 9:9-12. [PMID: 22177278 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2011.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2011] [Accepted: 12/06/2011] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Carolin Brück
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
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Brück C, Kreifelts B, Wildgruber D. Emotional voices in context: A neurobiological model of multimodal affective information processing. Phys Life Rev 2011; 8:383-403. [DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2011.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 108] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2011] [Accepted: 10/11/2011] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Brück C, Kreifelts B, Kaza E, Lotze M, Wildgruber D. Impact of personality on the cerebral processing of emotional prosody. Neuroimage 2011; 58:259-68. [PMID: 21689767 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2010] [Revised: 05/27/2011] [Accepted: 06/03/2011] [Indexed: 10/18/2022] Open
Abstract
While several studies have focused on identifying common brain mechanisms governing the decoding of emotional speech melody, interindividual variations in the cerebral processing of prosodic information, in comparison, have received only little attention to date: Albeit, for instance, differences in personality among individuals have been shown to modulate emotional brain responses, personality influences on the neural basis of prosody decoding have not been investigated systematically yet. Thus, the present study aimed at delineating relationships between interindividual differences in personality and hemodynamic responses evoked by emotional speech melody. To determine personality-dependent modulations of brain reactivity, fMRI activation patterns during the processing of emotional speech cues were acquired from 24 healthy volunteers and subsequently correlated with individual trait measures of extraversion and neuroticism obtained for each participant. Whereas correlation analysis did not indicate any link between brain activation and extraversion, strong positive correlations between measures of neuroticism and hemodynamic responses of the right amygdala, the left postcentral gyrus as well as medial frontal structures including the right anterior cingulate cortex emerged, suggesting that brain mechanisms mediating the decoding of emotional speech melody may vary depending on differences in neuroticism among individuals. Observed trait-specific modulations are discussed in the light of processing biases as well as differences in emotion control or task strategies which may be associated with the personality trait of neuroticism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolin Brück
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Calwerstraße 14, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
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Ethofer T, Bretscher J, Gschwind M, Kreifelts B, Wildgruber D, Vuilleumier P. Emotional Voice Areas: Anatomic Location, Functional Properties, and Structural Connections Revealed by Combined fMRI/DTI. Cereb Cortex 2011; 22:191-200. [PMID: 21625012 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhr113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 130] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Ethofer
- Department of General Psychiatry, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
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Brück C, Wildgruber D, Kreifelts B, Krüger R, Wächter T. Effects of subthalamic nucleus stimulation on emotional prosody comprehension in Parkinson's disease. PLoS One 2011; 6:e19140. [PMID: 21552518 PMCID: PMC3084266 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0019140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2010] [Accepted: 03/17/2011] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Although impaired decoding of emotional prosody has frequently been associated with Parkinson's disease (PD), to date only few reports have sought to explore the effect of Parkinson's treatment on disturbances of prosody decoding. In particular, little is known about how surgical treatment approaches such as high frequency deep brain stimulation (DBS) affect emotional speech perception in patients with PD. Accordingly, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of subthalamic nucleus (STN) stimulation on prosody processing. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS To this end the performance of 13 PD patients on three tasks requiring the decoding of emotional speech was assessed and subsequently compared to the performance of healthy control individuals. To delineate the effect of STN-DBS, all patients were tested with stimulators turned on as well as with stimulators turned off. Results revealed that irrespective of whether assessments were made "on" or "off" stimulation, patients' performance was less accurate as compared to healthy control participants on all tasks employed in this study. However, while accuracy appeared to be unaffected by stimulator status, a facilitation of reactions specific to highly conflicting emotional stimulus material (i.e. stimulus material presenting contradicting emotional messages on a verbal and non-verbal prosodic level) was observed during "on" stimulation assessments. CONCLUSION In sum, presented results suggest that the processing of emotional speech is indeed modulated by STN-DBS. Observed alterations might, on the one hand, reflect a more efficient processing of highly conflicting stimulus material following DBS. However, on the other hand, given the lack of an improvement in accuracy, increased impulsivity associated with STN stimulation needs to be taken into consideration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolin Brück
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
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Szameitat DP, Kreifelts B, Alter K, Szameitat AJ, Sterr A, Grodd W, Wildgruber D. It is not always tickling: Distinct cerebral responses during perception of different laughter types. Neuroimage 2010; 53:1264-71. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.06.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2010] [Revised: 06/01/2010] [Accepted: 06/09/2010] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
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Kreifelts B, Ethofer T, Huberle E, Grodd W, Wildgruber D. Association of trait emotional intelligence and individual fMRI-activation patterns during the perception of social signals from voice and face. Hum Brain Mapp 2010; 31:979-91. [PMID: 19937724 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.20913] [Citation(s) in RCA: 115] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Multimodal integration of nonverbal social signals is essential for successful social interaction. Previous studies have implicated the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) in the perception of social signals such as nonverbal emotional signals as well as in social cognitive functions like mentalizing/theory of mind. In the present study, we evaluated the relationships between trait emotional intelligence (EI) and fMRI activation patterns in individual subjects during the multimodal perception of nonverbal emotional signals from voice and face. Trait EI was linked to hemodynamic responses in the right pSTS, an area which also exhibits a distinct sensitivity to human voices and faces. Within all other regions known to subserve the perceptual audiovisual integration of human social signals (i.e., amygdala, fusiform gyrus, thalamus), no such linked responses were observed. This functional difference in the network for the audiovisual perception of human social signals indicates a specific contribution of the pSTS as a possible interface between the perception of social information and social cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Kreifelts
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany.
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Ethofer T, Wiethoff S, Anders S, Kreifelts B, Grodd W, Wildgruber D. The voices of seduction: cross-gender effects in processing of erotic prosody. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2010; 2:334-7. [PMID: 18985138 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsm028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2007] [Accepted: 05/25/2007] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Gender specific differences in cognitive functions have been widely discussed. Considering social cognition such as emotion perception conveyed by non-verbal cues, generally a female advantage is assumed. In the present study, however, we revealed a cross-gender interaction with increasing responses to the voice of opposite sex in male and female subjects. This effect was confined to erotic tone of speech in behavioural data and haemodynamic responses within voice sensitive brain areas (right middle superior temporal gyrus). The observed response pattern, thus, indicates a particular sensitivity to emotional voices that have a high behavioural relevance for the listener.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Ethofer
- Department of General Psychiatry, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
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Kreifelts B, Szameitat D, Alter K, Szameitat A, Sterr A, Wildgruber D. Distinct patterns of neural activity during the perception of different laughter types. Neuroimage 2009. [DOI: 10.1016/s1053-8119(09)72003-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022] Open
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Ethofer T, Kreifelts B, Wiethoff S, Wolf J, Grodd W, Vuilleumier P, Wildgruber D. Differential Influences of Emotion, Task, and Novelty on Brain Regions Underlying the Processing of Speech Melody. J Cogn Neurosci 2009; 21:1255-68. [DOI: 10.1162/jocn.2009.21099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 112] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
We investigated the functional characteristics of brain regions implicated in processing of speech melody by presenting words spoken in either neutral or angry prosody during a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment using a factorial habituation design. Subjects judged either affective prosody or word class for these vocal stimuli, which could be heard for either the first, second, or third time. Voice-sensitive temporal cortices, as well as the amygdala, insula, and mediodorsal thalami, reacted stronger to angry than to neutral prosody. These stimulus-driven effects were not influenced by the task, suggesting that these brain structures are automatically engaged during processing of emotional information in the voice and operate relatively independent of cognitive demands. By contrast, the right middle temporal gyrus and the bilateral orbito-frontal cortices (OFC) responded stronger during emotion than word classification, but were also sensitive to anger expressed by the voices, suggesting that some perceptual aspects of prosody are also encoded within these regions subserving explicit processing of vocal emotion. The bilateral OFC showed a selective modulation by emotion and repetition, with particularly pronounced responses to angry prosody during the first presentation only, indicating a critical role of the OFC in detection of vocal information that is both novel and behaviorally relevant. These results converge with previous findings obtained for angry faces and suggest a general involvement of the OFC for recognition of anger irrespective of the sensory modality. Taken together, our study reveals that different aspects of voice stimuli and perceptual demands modulate distinct areas involved in the processing of emotional prosody.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Ethofer
- 1University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- 2University Medical Center of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
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Wiethoff S, Wildgruber D, Kreifelts B, Becker H, Herbert C, Grodd W, Ethofer T. Cerebral processing of emotional prosody—influence of acoustic parameters and arousal. Neuroimage 2008; 39:885-93. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.09.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 121] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2007] [Revised: 08/09/2007] [Accepted: 09/11/2007] [Indexed: 10/22/2022] Open
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Kreifelts B, Ethofer T, Grodd W, Erb M, Wildgruber D. Audiovisual integration of emotional signals in voice and face: an event-related fMRI study. Neuroimage 2007; 37:1445-56. [PMID: 17659885 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.06.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 226] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2007] [Revised: 06/08/2007] [Accepted: 06/25/2007] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
In a natural environment, non-verbal emotional communication is multimodal (i.e. speech melody, facial expression) and multifaceted concerning the variety of expressed emotions. Understanding these communicative signals and integrating them into a common percept is paramount to successful social behaviour. While many previous studies have focused on the neurobiology of emotional communication in the auditory or visual modality alone, far less is known about multimodal integration of auditory and visual non-verbal emotional information. The present study investigated this process using event-related fMRI. Behavioural data revealed that audiovisual presentation of non-verbal emotional information resulted in a significant increase in correctly classified stimuli when compared with visual and auditory stimulation. This behavioural gain was paralleled by enhanced activation in bilateral posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) and right thalamus, when contrasting audiovisual to auditory and visual conditions. Further, a characteristic of these brain regions, substantiating their role in the emotional integration process, is a linear relationship between the gain in classification accuracy and the strength of the BOLD response during the bimodal condition. Additionally, enhanced effective connectivity between audiovisual integration areas and associative auditory and visual cortices was observed during audiovisual stimulation, offering further insight into the neural process accomplishing multimodal integration. Finally, we were able to document an enhanced sensitivity of the putative integration sites to stimuli with emotional non-verbal content as compared to neutral stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Kreifelts
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tuebingen, Osianderstrasse 24, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany.
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Abstract
During acoustic communication in humans, information about a speaker's emotional state is predominantly conveyed by modulation of the tone of voice (emotional or affective prosody). Based on lesion data, a right hemisphere superiority for cerebral processing of emotional prosody has been assumed. However, the available clinical studies do not yet provide a coherent picture with respect to interhemispheric lateralization effects of prosody recognition and intrahemispheric localization of the respective brain regions. To further delineate the cerebral network engaged in the perception of emotional tone, a series of experiments was carried out based upon functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The findings obtained from these investigations allow for the separation of three successive processing stages during recognition of emotional prosody: (1) extraction of suprasegmental acoustic information predominantly subserved by right-sided primary and higher order acoustic regions; (2) representation of meaningful suprasegmental acoustic sequences within posterior aspects of the right superior temporal sulcus; (3) explicit evaluation of emotional prosody at the level of the bilateral inferior frontal cortex. Moreover, implicit processing of affective intonation seems to be bound to subcortical regions mediating automatic induction of specific emotional reactions such as activation of the amygdala in response to fearful stimuli. As concerns lower level processing of the underlying suprasegmental acoustic cues, linguistic and emotional prosody seem to share the same right hemisphere neural resources. Explicit judgment of linguistic aspects of speech prosody, however, appears to be linked to left-sided language areas whereas bilateral orbitofrontal cortex has been found involved in explicit evaluation of emotional prosody. These differences in hemispheric lateralization effects might explain that specific impairments in nonverbal emotional communication subsequent to focal brain lesions are relatively rare clinical observations as compared to the more frequent aphasic disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Wildgruber
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Tübingen, Osianderstr. 24, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
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