Dolan R J, Lane R, Chua P, Fletcher P
Wellcome Department of Cognitive Neurology, Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, WC1N 3BG, London.
Neuroimage. 2000 Mar;11(3):203-9. doi: 10.1006/nimg.2000.0538.
The richness of human recollective experience is, in part, related to evocation of previously experienced emotions. An extensive functional neuroimaging literature has provided a description of brain regions involved in retrieving emotionally neutral episodic memories. Whether similar or distinct systems are involved in retrieving emotional memories is unresolved. This question motivated the present functional neuroimaging study, using 0-15 positron emission tomography (PET), where we compared patterns of brain activation associated with retrieving previously studied emotional and neutral pictorial material. By varying task requirements and item density we characterized two distinct neural response patterns during emotional memory retrieval. First, we identified an anterior temporal pole activation that reflected the psychological set associated with emotional memory retrieval. Second, we identified a left amygdala response sensitive to actual retrieval of emotional items. These data suggest distinct functional roles for temporal lobe regions during emotional memory retrieval involving context-related tonic anterior temporal pole activation and a phasic item-related amygdala response. We conclude that brain regions involved in episodic memory retrieval reflect not only physical attributes of stimulus material, for example, their verbal or visual qualities, but also their affective significance.
人类回忆体验的丰富性，部分与唤起先前经历的情感有关。大量的功能性神经影像学文献已经描述了参与提取情感中性情景记忆的脑区。参与提取情感记忆的系统是否与上述系统相似或不同，尚无定论。这个问题促使我们开展了本项功能性神经影像学研究，采用15O正电子发射断层扫描（PET）技术，比较与提取先前研究过的情感和中性图片材料相关的脑激活模式。通过改变任务要求和项目密度，我们在情感记忆提取过程中确定了两种不同的神经反应模式。首先，我们发现前颞极激活反映了与情感记忆提取相关的心理定势。其次，我们发现左侧杏仁核反应对情感项目的实际提取敏感。这些数据表明，在情感记忆提取过程中，颞叶区域具有不同的功能作用，包括与背景相关的持续性前颞极激活以及与项目相关的阶段性杏仁核反应。我们得出结论，参与情景记忆提取的脑区不仅反映刺激材料物理属性，例如言语或视觉特征，还反映其情感意义。
