Zald D H, Lee J T, Fluegel K W, Pardo J V
Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center, MN 55417, USA.
Brain. 1998 Jun;121 ( Pt 6):1143-54. doi: 10.1093/brain/121.6.1143.
Animal studies implicate the amygdala and its connections in the recognition of aversive stimuli. A recent PET study demonstrated that the human amygdala and left orbitofrontal cortex show substantial increases in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during exposure to aversive odourants. To examine if aversive gustatory stimuli similarly activate these regions, nine healthy women tasted an aversive saline solution, pure water and chocolate while rCBF was measured with PET. The aversive saline condition, when contrasted with the water condition, increased activity in the right amygdala, left anterior orbitofrontal cortex, medial thalamus, pregenual and dorsal anterior cingulate, and the right hippocampus. The right amygdala, left orbitofrontal cortex and pregenual cingulate remained significantly activated when saline was compared with chocolate. The present results indicate that the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex respond to aversive stimuli in both the olfactory and gustatory modalities, and highlight the role of the pregenual cingulate in negative emotional processing.
动物研究表明杏仁核及其连接在厌恶刺激的识别中起作用。最近一项正电子发射断层扫描（PET）研究显示，在接触厌恶气味剂时，人类杏仁核和左侧眶额皮质的局部脑血流量（rCBF）显著增加。为了研究厌恶味觉刺激是否同样会激活这些区域，九名健康女性在通过PET测量rCBF的同时，品尝了一种厌恶的盐溶液、纯水和巧克力。与水的情况相比，厌恶盐溶液的情况增加了右侧杏仁核、左侧眶额前皮质、内侧丘脑、膝前和背侧前扣带回以及右侧海马体的活动。当将盐溶液与巧克力进行比较时，右侧杏仁核、左侧眶额皮质和膝前扣带回仍显著激活。目前的结果表明，杏仁核和眶额皮质在嗅觉和味觉模式中均对厌恶刺激作出反应，并突出了膝前扣带回在负性情绪处理中的作用。
