Abstract
Both lesion and functional imaging studies in humans1,2, as well as neurophysiological studies in nonhuman primates3, demonstrate the importance of the prefrontal cortex in representing the emotional value of sensory stimuli. Here we investigated single-neuron responses to emotional stimuli in an awake person with normal intellect. Recording from neurons within healthy tissue in ventral sites of the right prefrontal cortex, we found short-latency (120–160 ms) responses selective for aversive visual stimuli.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Rent or buy this article
Prices vary by article type
from$1.95
to$39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Damasio, A. R. Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain (Grosset/Putnam, New York, 1994).
Elliott, R., Dolan, R. J. & Frith, C. D. Cereb. Cortex 10, 308–317 (2000).
Rolls, E. T. The Brain and Emotion (Oxford Univ. Press, New York, 1999).
Fuster, J. M. The Prefrontal Cortex. Anatomy, Physiology, and Neuropsychology of the Frontal Lobe (Raven, New York, 1989).
Damasio, A. R. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. 351, 1413–1420 (1996).
Bechara, A., Damasio, A. R., Damasio, H. & Anderson, S. W. Cognition 50, 7–15 (1994).
Howard, M. A. et al. J. Neurosurg. 84, 129–132 (1996).
Halgren, E. et al. J. Physiol. (Paris) 88, 51–80 (1994).
Northoff, G. et al. Cereb. Cortex 10, 93–107 (2000).
Kreiman, G., Koch, C. & Fried, I. Nat. Neurosci. 3, 946–953 (2000).
Ojemann, G. A., Ojemann, S. G. & Fried, I. Neuroscientist 4, 285–300 (1998).
Sugase, Y., Yamane, S., Ueno, S. & Kawano, K. Nature 400, 869–872 (1999).
Tomita, H., Ohbayashi, M., Nakahara, K., Hasegawa, I. & Miyashita, Y. Nature 401, 699–703 (1999).
Acknowledgements
We thank I. Volkov, D. Tranel and N. Denburg for technical help. Supported by grants to R.A. from the Center for Consciousness Studies, the EJLB Foundation, and the Klingenstein Fund.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Supplementary information
Supplementary Figure 1
(JPG 58.3 KB)
Neuroanatomical location of recording sites shown in coronal MR scan. Four recording locations in the ventral prefrontal cortex are shown in red and were located at the tips of the electrodes. Each recording location indicated on the figure corresponds to a tetrode cluster of 4 adjacent contacts cut flush with the shaft's surface. Electrodes consisted of Pt-Ir wires (Ų 40µm, impedance 50-200 kΩ) within a teflon shaft (O.D. 1.25mm; Radionics, Burlington, Massachusetts)7. Intracranial EEG recordings demonstrated that interictal epileptiform activity and seizure onsets localized to the right posterior dorsal frontal lobe, distal to the recording location. All recordings presented in this report were obtained from brain tissue that showed no anatomical or electrophysiological abnormalities as detected with high-resolution MRI and EEG.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kawasaki, H., Adolphs, R., Kaufman, O. et al. Single-neuron responses to emotional visual stimuli recorded in human ventral prefrontal cortex. Nat Neurosci 4, 15–16 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/82850
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/82850
This article is cited by
-
Does the Emotional Modulation of Visual Experience Entail the Cognitive Penetrability of Early Vision?
Review of Philosophy and Psychology (2023)
-
Neural responses to facial attractiveness in the judgments of moral goodness and moral beauty
Brain Structure and Function (2022)
-
Subcortical Facilitation of Behavioral Responses to Threat
Scientific Reports (2017)
-
A fast pathway for fear in human amygdala
Nature Neuroscience (2016)
-
Early detection and late cognitive control of emotional distraction by the prefrontal cortex
Scientific Reports (2015)