Diagnostic Imaging, Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G1X8.
Neuroimage. 2012 Mar;60(1):545-52. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.12.003. Epub 2011 Dec 13.
The ability to assess facial expressions of others involves specialised brain systems important for emotional and social learning, a skill that emerges over childhood. We investigated the development of neural responses associated with implicit processing of facial emotions using magnetoencephalography in children (7-10 yrs), adolescents (12-15 yrs) and adults. The results demonstrated spatial-temporal activations in the ACC and amygdala emotion-processing systems that changed with age. The processing of emotions first engaged the earlier-developing amygdala responses and then involved the later-maturing ACC system. With increasing age there was a shift in lateralization of amygdala responses sensitive to the fearful faces. The findings contribute to a critical understanding of the development related to functional specialization of fear perception in the frontal-limbic emotion systems. The present study offers critical insights into the developmentally time-sensitive impact on the normal functioning of these brain regions.
评估他人面部表情的能力涉及到对情感和社会学习很重要的专门大脑系统，这是一种在儿童时期发展起来的技能。我们使用脑磁图研究了儿童（7-10 岁）、青少年（12-15 岁）和成年人在无意识处理面部情绪方面相关的神经反应的发展。研究结果表明，在年龄变化的过程中，与情绪处理相关的 ACC 和杏仁核反应存在时空激活。情绪处理首先激活了更早发育的杏仁核反应，然后涉及到后来成熟的 ACC 系统。随着年龄的增长，对恐惧面孔敏感的杏仁核反应的侧化发生了变化。这些发现有助于深入理解与额-边缘情绪系统中的恐惧感知功能专业化相关的发展。本研究为这些大脑区域正常功能的发育相关的时间敏感性影响提供了重要的见解。
