Contrasting roles for lateral and ventromedial prefrontal cortex in transient and dispositional affective experience

Prefrontal cortex (PFC) has been implicated in the experience and regulation of emotional states. Emotional experience is a complex construct, encompassing a range of more specific processes. This exploratory study aimed to delineate which (if any) aspects of emotional experience rely critically on...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social cognitive and affective neuroscience 2011-01, Vol.6 (1), p.128-137
Main Authors: Gillihan, Seth J., Xia, Chenjie, Padon, Alisa A., Heberlein, Andrea S., Farah, Martha J., Fellows, Lesley K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Brain Injuries - complications
Brain Injuries - pathology
Brain Mapping
Emotions - physiology
Female
Functional Laterality
Humans
Male
Mental Recall - physiology
Middle Aged
Mood Disorders - etiology
Neuropsychological Tests
Original
Pain Measurement
Prefrontal Cortex - pathology
Prefrontal Cortex - physiopathology
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Statistics, Nonparametric
Temperament
Time Factors
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Summary:Prefrontal cortex (PFC) has been implicated in the experience and regulation of emotional states. Emotional experience is a complex construct, encompassing a range of more specific processes. This exploratory study aimed to delineate which (if any) aspects of emotional experience rely critically on either the ventromedial frontal (VMF) or lateral frontal (LF) lobes. The affective experience of individuals with damage to these regions was surveyed in detail using several measures and compared with that of control participants. Dependent measures included subjective and observer ratings of both dispositional affect and transient responses to laboratory mood inductions. VMF damage was associated with greater negative dispositional affect relative to controls and to individuals with LF damage; however, transient responses to emotional stimuli were largely normal. In contrast, LF damage was associated with an exaggerated subjective reactivity to sad emotional stimuli relative to control participants, but normal dispositional affect. Interestingly, neither form of PFC damage affected spontaneous emotion recovery following the mood inductions. These findings suggest a role for VMF in modulating dispositional negative affect; in contrast, LF areas appear to be critical in regulating transient emotional responses while emotional stimuli are present. This study also illustrates the dissociability of different aspects of emotional experience in patients with focal brain injury.
ISSN:1749-5016
1749-5024
DOI:10.1093/scan/nsq026