Hoffman Kari L, Gothard Katalin M, Schmid Michael C, Logothetis Nikos K
Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
Curr Biol. 2007 May 1;17(9):766-72. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.03.040. Epub 2007 Apr 5.
The social behavior of both human and nonhuman primates relies on specializations for the recognition of individuals, their facial expressions, and their direction of gaze. A broad network of cortical and subcortical structures has been implicated in face processing, yet it is unclear whether co-occurring dimensions of face stimuli, such as expression and direction of gaze, are processed jointly or independently by anatomically and functionally segregated neural structures. Awake macaques were presented with a set of monkey faces displaying aggressive, neutral, and appeasing expressions with head and eyes either averted or directed. BOLD responses to these faces as compared to Fourier-phase-scrambled images revealed widespread activation of the superior temporal sulcus and inferotemporal cortex and included activity in the amygdala. The different dimensions of the face stimuli elicited distinct activation patterns among the amygdaloid nuclei. The basolateral amygdala, including the lateral, basal, and accessory basal nuclei, produced a stronger response for threatening than appeasing expressions. The central nucleus and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis responded more to averted than directed-gaze faces. Independent behavioral measures confirmed that faces with averted gaze were more arousing, suggesting the activity in the central nucleus may be related to attention and arousal.
人类和非人类灵长类动物的社会行为依赖于识别个体、其面部表情以及注视方向的特殊能力。广泛的皮层和皮层下结构网络与面部处理有关，但尚不清楚面部刺激的共同维度，如表情和注视方向，是由解剖学和功能上分离的神经结构联合处理还是独立处理。让清醒的猕猴观看一组展示攻击性、中性和安抚性表情的猴脸，这些猴脸的头部和眼睛要么避开要么直视。与傅里叶相位扰乱图像相比，对这些面孔的血氧水平依赖（BOLD）反应显示颞上沟和颞下皮质广泛激活，并且杏仁核也有活动。面部刺激的不同维度在杏仁核核团中引发了不同的激活模式。基底外侧杏仁核，包括外侧核、基底核和副基底核，对威胁性表情的反应比对安抚性表情的反应更强。终纹床核和中央核对视向避开的面孔比对直视的面孔反应更强。独立的行为测量证实，视向避开的面孔更能引起兴奋，这表明中央核的活动可能与注意力和兴奋有关。
