| Title: |
Functional connectivity in the emotional brain |
| Research Area(s): |
Emotion and Self Regulation |
| Background: |
My Pfizer fellowship is focused on functional brain connectivity and the 'disconnections' which define psychiatric illnesses. In this first component of the fellowship, we focus on functional connectivity in relation to emotional brain function, using fMRI data. |
| Aims: |
That conscious emotion perception will be associated with positive connectivity of striate cortex, thalamus and amygdala networks - whereas non-conscious perception will be defined by connectivity of brainstem superior colliculus, thalamus and amygdala networks (reflecting the engagement of an indirect cortical vs direct subcortical pathway). |
| Method: |
We will use psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis, available in SPM2 with fMRI data acquired from the facial emotion perception task. |