| Budget Amount *help |
¥4,680,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,080,000)
Fiscal Year 2017: ¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000)
Fiscal Year 2016: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000)
Fiscal Year 2015: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000)
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
The detection of emotional facial expressions is important in social interaction. However, its neural mechanisms remain unclear. To investigate this issue, we conducted a neuropsychological experiment with unilateral amygdala-damaged patients. Participants detected normal expressions of anger and happiness and their anti-expressions within crowds of neutral expressions. Reaction times were shorter for normal expressions than for anti-expressions when stimuli were presented to the intact, but not lesioned, hemispheres. The results suggest that the amygdala is indispensable in the rapid detection of emotional expressions. Next, we analyzed intracranial electroencephalography data recorded from the amygdala and inferior occipital gyrus during the observation of faces using dynamic causal modeling. Rapid bidirectional modulatory effects were shown between these regions. These results suggest that the amygdala and visual cortices communicate rapidly for the efficient processing of faces.
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