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Amygdala hypersensitivity in response to emotional faces in Tourette's patients.
- Source :
-
The world journal of biological psychiatry : the official journal of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry [World J Biol Psychiatry] 2010 Oct; Vol. 11 (7), pp. 858-72. - Publication Year :
- 2010
-
Abstract
- Objectives: Tourette's syndrome is characterised by motor and vocal tics as well as a high level of impulsivity and emotional dysregulation. Neuroimaging studies point to structural changes of the basal ganglia, prefrontal cortex and parts of the limbic system. However, there is no link between behavioural symptoms and the structural changes in the amygdala. One aspect of daily social interaction is the perception of emotional facial expressions, closely linked to amgydala function.<br />Methods: We therefore investigated via fMRI the implicit discrimination of six emotional facial expressions in 19 adult Tourette's patients.<br />Results: In comparison to healthy control group, Tourette's patients showed significantly higher amygdala activation, especially pronounced for fearful, angry and neutral expressions. The BOLD-activity of the left amygdala correlated negatively with the personality trait extraversion.<br />Conclusions: We will discuss these findings as a result of either deficient frontal inhibition due to structural changes or a desynchronization in the interaction of the cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical network within structures of the limbic system. Our data show an altered pattern of implicit emotion discrimination and emphasize the need to consider motor and non-motor symptoms in Tourette's syndrome in the choice of both behavioural and pharmacological treatment.
- Subjects :
- Adolescent
Adult
Anger physiology
Arousal physiology
Cerebral Cortex physiopathology
Dominance, Cerebral physiology
Extraversion, Psychological
Fear physiology
Female
Frontal Lobe physiopathology
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Limbic System physiopathology
Male
Middle Aged
Nerve Net physiopathology
Neural Inhibition physiology
Personality Inventory statistics & numerical data
Psychometrics
Social Perception
Tourette Syndrome diagnosis
Tourette Syndrome psychology
Young Adult
Amygdala physiopathology
Emotions physiology
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Oxygen blood
Pattern Recognition, Visual physiology
Tourette Syndrome physiopathology
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1814-1412
- Volume :
- 11
- Issue :
- 7
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- The world journal of biological psychiatry : the official journal of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 20560820
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3109/15622975.2010.480984