Portraying emotions at their unfolding: A multilayered approach for probing dynamics of neural networks

Gal Raz, Yonatan Winetraub, Yael Jacob, Sivan Kinreich, Adi Maron-Katz, Galit Shaham, Ilana Podlipsky, Gadi Gilam, Eyal Soreq, Talma Hendler*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

85 Scopus citations

Abstract

Dynamic functional integration of distinct neural systems plays a pivotal role in emotional experience. We introduce a novel approach for studying emotion-related changes in the interactions within and between networks using fMRI. It is based on continuous computation of a network cohesion index (NCI), which is sensitive to both strength and variability of signal correlations between pre-defined regions. The regions encompass three clusters (namely limbic, medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and cognitive), each previously was shown to be involved in emotional processing. Two sadness-inducing film excerpts were viewed passively, and comparisons between viewer's rated sadness, parasympathetic, and inter-NCI and intra-NCI were obtained. Limbic intra-NCI was associated with reported sadness in both movies. However, the correlation between the parasympathetic-index, the rated sadness and the limbic-NCI occurred in only one movie, possibly related to a "deactivated" pattern of sadness. In this film, rated sadness intensity also correlated with the mPFC intra-NCI, possibly reflecting temporal correspondence between sadness and sympathy. Further, only for this movie, we found an association between sadness rating and the mPFC-limbic inter-NCI time courses. To the contrary, in the other film in which sadness was reported to commingle with horror and anger, dramatic events coincided with disintegration of these networks. Together, this may point to a difference between the cinematic experiences with regard to inter-network dynamics related to emotional regulation. These findings demonstrate the advantage of a multi-layered dynamic analysis for elucidating the uniqueness of emotional experiences with regard to an unguided processing of continuous and complex stimulation.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1448-1461
Number of pages14
JournalNeuroImage
Volume60
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2 Apr 2012
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the University of Chicago's Arete Initiative - Science of Virtues Program (TH), a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense award number W81XWH-11-2-0008 (TH), the Dan David Scholarship Award (GR), and Human Frontier Science Program Grant RGP0054/2004-C, by European Commission-funded COBOL Contract 043403 (TH,GR). The authors thank Yoav Benjamini (Department of Statistics and Operations Research, Tel Aviv University) for helpful statistical consultation, and Gali Ellenblum and Tal Nissenson for conducting Experiment 3.

Keywords

  • Emotion regulation
  • Emotional cinematic experience
  • Emotional dynamics
  • FMRI
  • Functional connectivity
  • Network cohesion

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