Functional and neurochemical interactions within the amygdala-medial prefrontal cortex circuit and their relevance to emotional processing.
Stefano Delli PizziPiero ChiacchiarettaDante MantiniGiovanna BubbicoAntonio FerrettiRichard A EddenCamillo Di GiulioMarco OnofrjLaura BonanniPublished in: Brain structure & function (2016)
The amygdala-medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) circuit plays a key role in emotional processing. GABA-ergic inhibition within the mPFC has been suggested to play a role in the shaping of amygdala activity. However, the functional and neurochemical interactions within the amygdala-mPFC circuits and their relevance to emotional processing remain unclear. To investigate this circuit, we obtained resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and proton MR spectroscopy in 21 healthy subjects to assess the potential relationship between GABA levels within mPFC and the amygdala-mPFC functional connectivity. Trait anxiety was assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y2). Partial correlations were used to measure the relationships among the functional connectivity outcomes, mPFC GABA levels and STAI-Y2 scores. Age, educational level and amount of the gray and white matters within 1H-MRS volume of interest were included as nuisance variables. The rs-fMRI signals of the amygdala and the vmPFC were significantly anti-correlated. This negative functional coupling between the two regions was inversely correlated with the GABA+/tCr level within the mPFC and the STAI-Y2 scores. We suggest a close relationship between mPFC GABA levels and functional interactions within the amygdala-vmPFC circuit, providing new insights in the physiology of emotion.
Keyphrases
- functional connectivity
- resting state
- prefrontal cortex
- magnetic resonance imaging
- immune response
- depressive symptoms
- high resolution
- type diabetes
- risk assessment
- magnetic resonance
- contrast enhanced
- physical activity
- single molecule
- mass spectrometry
- genome wide
- dendritic cells
- climate change
- stress induced
- borderline personality disorder