From a neurobiological perspective, emotion involves a complex interaction between core limbic structures and overlying cortex. Recent evidence suggests that the two cerebral hemispheres play different roles in modulating the components of emotional behavior, although the precise manner by which this occurs is controversial. The global right hemisphere model posits that neural systems within the right hemisphere are crucially involved in all aspects of emotional behavior. In contrast, the bivalent model posits that anterior regions of the right hemisphere (RH) mediate the experience of negative/withdrawal emotions, whereas the left hemisphere (LH) mediates positive/approach emotions. To address this, patients with strokes of the RH or LH will be presented standardized sets of emotion-eliciting stimuli (affective slides, emotional nonverbal sounds, emotional sentences) that are positively and negatively toned. During these tasks, multiple measures of emotional responsivity will be obtained including psychophysiological (heart rate, bilateral SCR), somatic (bilateral facial EMG), startle eyeblinks, and verbal report measures. As designed, the proposed studies will enable us to determine how focal cortical lesions of the LH or RH differentially alter emotional reactivity, and whether their alteration is valence- specific, material-specific, modality-specific, or """"""""measure"""""""" specific. The following questions will be addressed: (a) Is there differential decoupling among the emotion response systems (i.e., HR, SCR, facial EMG, eyeblink, verbal report) due to the integrity of right vs. left cortical regions? To date, prior neurobehavioral studies of emotion have relied almost exclusively on evaluation of only one response system of emotion (i.e., verbal report, or SCR) at a time; (b) Is valence modulation of the startle response differently affected by lesions within the right versus left hemisphere, and is intrahemispheric lesion site important? Recent evidence from normals suggests that the magnitude of the startle eyeblink reflex is augmented during negative affective states and diminished during positive affective states. No human data currently exist concerning which cortical area(s) might contribute to affective modulation of the startle response, or whether hemispheric asymmetries might exist; (c) Are findings more consistent with a global right hemisphere versus a bivalent model of emotional processing?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Specialized Center (P50)
Project #
5P50MH052384-03
Application #
5214943
Study Section
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
Budget End
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
1996
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Gollan, Jackie K; Norris, Catherine J; Hoxha, Denada et al. (2014) Spatial affect learning restricted in major depression relative to anxiety disorders and healthy controls. Cogn Emot 28:36-45
Drislane, L E; Vaidyanathan, U; Patrick, C J (2013) Reduced cortical call to arms differentiates psychopathy from antisocial personality disorder. Psychol Med 43:825-35
Verona, Edelyn; Bresin, Konrad; Patrick, Christopher J (2013) Revisiting psychopathy in women: Cleckley/Hare conceptions and affective response. J Abnorm Psychol 122:1088-93
McTeague, Lisa M; Lang, Peter J; Wangelin, Bethany C et al. (2012) Defensive mobilization in specific phobia: fear specificity, negative affectivity, and diagnostic prominence. Biol Psychiatry 72:8-18
Bernat, Edward M; Nelson, Lindsay D; Steele, Vaughn R et al. (2011) Externalizing psychopathology and gain-loss feedback in a simulated gambling task: dissociable components of brain response revealed by time-frequency analysis. J Abnorm Psychol 120:352-64
Ferrari, Vera; Bradley, Margaret M; Codispoti, Maurizio et al. (2011) Repetitive exposure: brain and reflex measures of emotion and attention. Psychophysiology 48:515-22
Vaidyanathan, Uma; Hall, Jason R; Patrick, Christopher J et al. (2011) Clarifying the role of defensive reactivity deficits in psychopathy and antisocial personality using startle reflex methodology. J Abnorm Psychol 120:253-8
Jovanovic, Tanja; Norrholm, Seth D; Blanding, Nineequa Q et al. (2010) Fear potentiation is associated with hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function in PTSD. Psychoneuroendocrinology 35:846-57
Norris, Catherine J; Gollan, Jackie; Berntson, Gary G et al. (2010) The current status of research on the structure of evaluative space. Biol Psychol 84:422-36
Hicks, Brian M; Vaidyanathan, Uma; Patrick, Christopher J (2010) Validating female psychopathy subtypes: differences in personality, antisocial and violent behavior, substance abuse, trauma, and mental health. Personal Disord 1:38-57

Showing the most recent 10 out of 114 publications