Electrophysiological Correlates of the
Recognition of Objects, Faces,
and Facial Expressions: An ERP Study in Monkeys
The
goal of this study is to determine the effects of amygdala or orbital
frontal cortex lesions in monkeys on face and facial expression
processing using the event-related potential (ERP) technique. For this
experiment, electrophysiological scalp recordings were taken from
normal and lesioned monkeys while they viewed images of different
facial expressions to determine whether lesions of the amygdala or
orbital frontal cortex result in brain activity in response to facial
expressions that differs from that of normal subjects. This
non-invasive technique allows comparison of the results obtained from
subjects who received their lesions in adulthood with data from
subjects with neonatally produced lesions. These ERP measures were
compared to behavioral measures of facial expressions discrimination in
the same monkeys using the Visual Paired Comparison task. This study
will ultimately offer a unique view of the roles of the amygdala and
orbital frontal cortex on the development of facial expression
processing, leading to insights about developmental disorders such as
autism.
Bachevalier
J, Loveland KA. (2006) The orbitofrontal-amygdala circuit and
self-regulation of social-emotional behavior in autism. Neurosci
Biobehav Rev 30(1):97-117.
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