Sat, 26 Jul 2008 03:16:01 BST CiteULike: oamg fusiform_gyrus http://www.citeulike.org/user/oamg/tag/fusiform_gyrus CiteULike.org en-gb Copyright © 2004-2008 citeulike.org http://www.citeulike.org/user/oamg/article/1836870 <i>J Cogn Neurosci, Vol. 19, No. 1. (January 2007), pp. 42-58.</i><br /><br />Whether observation of distress in others leads to empathic concern and altruistic motivation, or to personal distress and egoistic motivation, seems to depend upon the capacity for self-other differentiation and cognitive appraisal. In this experiment, behavioral measures and event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging were used to investigate the effects of perspective-taking and cognitive appraisal while participants observed the facial expression of pain resulting from medical treatment. Video clips showing the faces of patients were presented either with the instruction to imagine the feelings of the patient ("imagine other") or to imagine oneself to be in the patient's situation ("imagine self"). Cognitive appraisal was manipulated by providing information that the medical treatment had or had not been successful. Behavioral measures demonstrated that perspective-taking and treatment effectiveness instructions affected participants' affective responses to the observed pain. Hemodynamic changes were detected in the insular cortices, anterior medial cingulate cortex (aMCC), amygdala, and in visual areas including the fusiform gyrus. Graded responses related to the perspective-taking instructions were observed in middle insula, aMCC, medial and lateral premotor areas, and selectively in left and right parietal cortices. Treatment effectiveness resulted in signal changes in the perigenual anterior cingulate cortex, in the ventromedial orbito-frontal cortex, in the right lateral middle frontal gyrus, and in the cerebellum. These findings support the view that humans' responses to the pain of others can be modulated by cognitive and motivational processes, which influence whether observing a conspecific in need of help will result in empathic concern, an important instigator for helping behavior. The neural substrate of human empathy: effects of perspective-taking and cognitive appraisal. C Lamm CD Batson J Decety doi:10.1162/jocn.2007.19.1.42 J Cogn Neurosci, Vol. 19, No. 1. (January 2007), pp. 42-58. 2007-10-29T20:07:34-00:00 2007 J Cogn Neurosci 0898-929X 19 1 42 58 altruism cause_and_effect fusiform_gyrus observational_learning perspective_taking http://www.citeulike.org/user/oamg/article/1190024 <i>Neuroimage, Vol. 35, No. 1. (March 2007), pp. 334-342.</i><br /><br />An area in the left fusiform gyrus labelled the Visual Word Form Area (VWFA) is claimed to be especially, or even selectively, responsive to words. We explored how stimulus type and task demands affect activity in this area by conducting a PET experiment where words and pictures were presented in two conditions that differed in demands on shape processing: colour decision and categorization. The subjects also performed an object decision task with pictures only. The imaging data revealed a main effect of stimulus type: rCBF was higher during word compared with picture processing. When compared individually for colour decision and categorization, the difference between words and pictures was only significant during colour decision, although a trend was present during categorization also. rCBF in the VWFA was highest during the object decision task, where only pictures were presented. Our findings indicate that the putative VWFA is activated more by written words than pictures, but only under certain circumstances. As demands on shape processing increase, the difference in activation between words and pictures decreases and can even be abolished. We suggest that activation in the VWFA could reflect shape configuration-the integration of shape elements into elaborate shape descriptions corresponding to whole objects or words. This process may be required to different degrees for pictures and words depending on task demands. The Visual What For Area: Words and pictures in the left fusiform gyrus. R Starrfelt C Gerlach doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.12.003 Neuroimage, Vol. 35, No. 1. (March 2007), pp. 334-342. 2007-03-27T20:01:32-00:00 2007 Neuroimage 1053-8119 35 1 334 342 cause_and_effect fusiform_gyrus http://www.citeulike.org/user/oamg/article/1533713 <i>J Cogn Neurosci, Vol. 19, No. 6. (June 2007), pp. 1004-1012.</i><br /><br />Impaired retrieval of conceptual knowledge for actions has been associated with lesions of left premotor, left parietal, and left middle temporal areas [Tranel, D., Kemmerer, D., Adolphs, R., Damasio, H., & Damasio, A. R. Neural correlates of conceptual knowledge for actions. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 409-432, 2003]. Here we aimed at characterizing the differential contribution of these areas to the retrieval of conceptual knowledge about actions. During functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), different categories of pictograms (whole-body actions, manipulable and nonmanipulable objects) were presented to healthy subjects. fMRI data were analyzed using SPM2. A conjunction analysis of the neural activations elicited by all pictograms revealed ( p<.05, corrected) a bilateral inferior occipito-temporal neural network with strong activations in the right and left fusiform gyri. Action pictograms contrasted to object pictograms showed differential activation of area MT+, the inferior and superior parietal cortex, and the premotor cortex bilaterally. An analysis of psychophysiological interactions identified contribution-dependent changes in the neural responses when pictograms triggered the retrieval of conceptual action knowledge: Processing of action pictograms specifically enhanced the neural interaction between the right and left fusiform gyri, the right and left middle temporal cortices (MT+), and the left superior and inferior parietal cortex. These results complement and extend previous neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies by showing that knowledge about action concepts results from an increased coupling between areas concerned with semantic processing (fusiform gyrus), movement perception (MT+), and temporospatial movement control (left parietal cortex). Functional interactions during the retrieval of conceptual action knowledge: an fMRI study. A Assmus C Giessing PH Weiss GR Fink doi:10.1162/jocn.2007.19.6.1004 J Cogn Neurosci, Vol. 19, No. 6. (June 2007), pp. 1004-1012. 2007-08-03T16:50:04-00:00 2007 J Cogn Neurosci 0898-929X 19 6 1004 1012 cause_and_effect fusiform_gyrus http://www.citeulike.org/user/oamg/article/1479628 <i>Neuropsychologia (13 June 2007)</i><br /><br />We investigated brain activity evoked by faces which were not consciously perceived by subjects. Subdural electrophysiological recordings and functional neuroimaging studies have each demonstrated face-specific processing in the fusiform gyrus (FFG) of humans. Using pattern masks, a stimulus can be presented but not consciously perceived, and thus can be used to assay obligatory or automatic processes. Here, using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging and pattern masking, we observed that masked faces but not masked objects activated the right FFG. Other regions activated by consciously perceived unmasked faces were not activated when faces were masked. These data provide strong evidence for an automatic face-processing region in the right FFG. Face processing without awareness in the right fusiform gyrus. James P Morris Kevin A Pelphrey Gregory McCarthy doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2007.05.020 Neuropsychologia (13 June 2007) 2007-07-25T00:38:25-00:00 2007 Neuropsychologia 0028-3932 face fusiform_gyrus