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Whereas emotion theorists often keep their distance from the embodied approach, theorists of embodiment tend to treat emotion as a mainly physiologic process. However, intimate links between emotions and the body suggest that emotions are privileged phenomena to attempt to reintegrate mind and body and that the body helps the mind in shaping emotional responses. To date, research has favored the cerebrum over other parts of the brain as a substrate of embodied emotions. However, given the widely demonstrated contribution of the cerebellum to emotional processing, research in affective neuroscience should consider embodiment theory as a useful approach for evaluating the cerebellar role in emotion and affect. The aim of this review is to insert the cerebellum among the structures needed to embody emotions, providing illustrative examples of cerebellar involvement in embodied emotions (as occurring in empathic abilities) and in impaired identification and expression of embodied emotions (as occurring in alexithymia). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Accumulating evidence indicates that the amygdala exhibits early signs of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. However, it is still unknown whether the atrophy of distinct subfields of the amygdala also participates in the transition from healthy cognition to mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: Our sample was derived from the AD Neuroimaging Initiative 3 and consisted of 97 cognitively healthy (HC) individuals, sorted into two groups based on their clinical follow‐up: 75 who remained stable (s‐HC) and 22 who converted to MCI within 48 months (c‐HC). Anatomical magnetic resonance (MR) images were analyzed using a semi‐automatic approach that combines probabilistic methods and a priori information from ex vivo MR images and histology to segment and obtain quantitative structural metrics for different amygdala subfields in each participant. Spearman's correlations were performed between MR measures and baseline and longitudinal neuropsychological measures. We also included anatomical measurements of the whole amygdala, the hippocampus, a key target of AD‐related pathology, and the whole cortical thickness as a test of spatial specificity. Results: Compared with s‐HC individuals, c‐HC subjects showed a reduced right amygdala volume, whereas no significant difference was observed for hippocampal volumes or changes in cortical thickness. In the amygdala subfields, we observed selected atrophy patterns in the basolateral nuclear complex, anterior amygdala area, and transitional area. Macro‐structural alterations in these subfields correlated with variations of global indices of cognitive performance (measured at baseline and the 48‐month follow‐up), suggesting that amygdala changes shape the cognitive progression to MCI. Discussion: Our results provide anatomical evidence for the early involvement of the amygdala in the preclinical stages of AD. Highlights: Amygdala's atrophy marks elderly progression to mild cognitive impairment (MCI).Amygdala's was observed within the basolateral and amygdaloid complexes.Macro‐structural alterations were associated with cognitive decline.No atrophy was found in the hippocampus and cortex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of sequences of words and prosody, meter, and rhythm provided in an interview addressing the capacity to identify and describe emotions represents a powerful tool to reveal emotional processing. The ability to express and identify emotions was analyzed by means of the Toronto Structured Interview for Alexithymia (TSIA), and TSIA transcripts were analyzed by Natural Language Processing to shed light on verbal features. The brain correlates of the capacity to translate emotional experience into words were determined through cortical thickness measures. A machine learning methodology proved that individuals with deficits in identifying and describing emotions (n = 7) produced language distortions, frequently used the present tense of auxiliary verbs, and few possessive determiners, as well as scarcely connected the speech, in comparison to individuals without deficits (n = 7). Interestingly, they showed high cortical thickness at left temporal pole and low at isthmus of the right cingulate cortex. Overall, we identified the neuro-linguistic pattern of the expression of emotional experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the recognition of its role in sensory-motor coordination and learning, the cerebellum has been involved in cognitive, emotional, and even personality domains. This study investigated the relationships between cerebellar macro- and micro-structural variations and temperamental traits measured by Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). High resolution T1-weighted, and Diffusion Tensor Images of 100 healthy subjects aged 18-59 years were acquired by 3 Tesla Magnetic Resonance scanner. In multiple regression analyses, cerebellar Gray Matter (GM) or White Matter (WM) volumes, GM Mean Diffusivity (MD), and WM Fractional Anisotropy (FA) were used as dependent variables, TCI scores as regressors, gender, age, and education years as covariates. Novelty Seeking scores were associated positively with the cerebellar GM volumes and FA, and negatively with MD. No significant association between Harm Avoidance, Reward Dependence or Persistence scores and cerebellar structural measures was found. The present data put toward a cerebellar involvement in the management of novelty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]