Neurobiology of emotion perception II: implications for major psychiatric disorders

doi:10.1016/S0006-3223(03)00171-9

Biological Psychiatry

Volume 54, Issue 5, 1 September 2003, Pages 515-528

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3223(03)00171-9 Get rights and content

Abstract

To date, there has been little investigation of the neurobiological basis of emotion processing abnormalities in psychiatric populations. We have previously discussed two neural systems: 1) a ventral system, including the amygdala, insula, ventral striatum, ventral anterior cingulate gyrus, and prefrontal cortex, for identification of the emotional significance of a stimulus, production of affective states, and automatic regulation of emotional responses; and 2) a dorsal system, including the hippocampus, dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus, and prefrontal cortex, for the effortful regulation of affective states and subsequent behavior. In this critical review, we have examined evidence from studies employing a variety of techniques for distinct patterns of structural and functional abnormalities in these neural systems in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder. In each psychiatric disorder, the pattern of abnormalities may be associated with specific symptoms, including emotional flattening, anhedonia, and persecutory delusions in schizophrenia, prominent mood swings, emotional lability, and distractibility in bipolar disorder during depression and mania, and with depressed mood and anhedonia in major depressive disorder. We suggest that distinct patterns of structural and functional abnormalities in neural systems important for emotion processing are associated with specific symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar and major depressive disorder.

Introduction

Until recently, there has been little investigation of the neurobiological basis of the abnormalities in emotion processing present in different psychiatric populations. Furthermore, there has been little attempt to compare the severity and nature of these abnormalities across different psychiatric disorders. In a previous review (Phillips et al 2003), we examined the findings from recent animal, human lesion, and functional neuroimaging studies to identify the neural bases of the different neuropsychological processes important to the understanding of normal human emotional behavior. Findings suggest that these processes may be dependent upon the functioning of two neural systems: a ventral system important for the identification of the emotional significance of a stimulus, the production of affective states; and a dorsal system important for executive function, including selective attention, planning, and effortful regulation of affective states (Figure 1). Abnormalities in emotion perception may be associated with abnormal triggering of emotional responses that lead to clinical phenomena unrelated to exteroceptive perception (e.g., depressed or manic mood) that dominate the clinical picture. In this critical review, we have examined the evidence from studies employing a variety of techniques for the presence of specific abnormalities in these systems in major psychiatric illnesses, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder.

Section snippets

Evidence for impaired cognitive and emotion processing in schizophrenia

Bleuler (1950) defined schizophrenia as essentially a splitting of thoughts (cognition) from feelings (emotion), and a “flattening of affect” and anhedonia have been recognized as core features of the disorder since its first description. Furthermore, schizophrenic patients often appear to misinterpret social cues and exhibit poor social skills, with symptoms such as persecutory delusions often emerging as misinterpretations of social interactions and events, frequently revolving around a

Evidence for impaired cognitive and emotion processing in bipolar disorder

Many of the symptoms experienced by patients with bipolar disorder, including irritability, distractibility, and emotional lability, would appear to be associated with abnormalities in emotion processing, including the experience of emotions of inappropriately high intensity in relation to the context in which they occur, and an inability to regulate mood. Impaired performance on cognitive tasks, including those of selective attention and working memory, has been demonstrated in manic Bulbena

Evidence for impaired cognitive and emotion processing in major depressive disorder

Studies have reported impaired executive function in patients with major depressive disorder Elliott 1998, Murphy et al 2001, with positive correlations with depression severity (Smith 1994) and illness duration (Borkowska and Rybakowski 2001), and studies have suggested either no difference Goldberg et al 1993, Sweeney et al 2000 or fewer impairments in these compared with depressed bipolar patients (Borkowska and Rybakowski 2001; Wolfe et al 1987). Studies have also demonstrated a persistence

A neuroanatomic explanation of abnormalities in emotion perception in schizophrenia and affective disorders

To date, few studies have aimed to examine the nature of the functional and structural neuroanatomic abnormalities associated with the presence of symptoms in psychiatric disorders. In this critical review, we have examined the evidence for the presence of specific abnormalities in ventral and dorsal neural systems implicated in emotion processing in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder. We have suggested that different patterns of structural and functional

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ReviewNeurobiology of emotion perception II: implications for major psychiatric disorders

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Evidence for impaired cognitive and emotion processing in schizophrenia

Evidence for impaired cognitive and emotion processing in bipolar disorder

Evidence for impaired cognitive and emotion processing in major depressive disorder

A neuroanatomic explanation of abnormalities in emotion perception in schizophrenia and affective disorders

Biol Psychiatry

Lancet

Psychiatr Res

Biol Psychiatry

Schizophr Res

Biol Psychiatry

Biol Psychiatry

Behav Res Ther

Biol Psychiatry

Psychiatry Res

J Affect Disord

Biol Psychiatry

Psychiatry Res

Schizophr Res

Schizophr Res

Psychiatry Res

Biol Psychiatry

Eur Neuropsychopharmacol

Schizophr Res

Trends Cognit Sci

Psychiatry Res

Biol Psychiatry

Biol Psychiatry

Psychiatry Res

Biol Psychiatry

J Psychiatr Res

Biol Psychiatry

Biol Psychiatry

Schizophr Res

Biol Psychiatry

Biol Psychiatry

Biol Psychiatry

Metabolic rate in the right amygdala predicts negative affect in depressed patients

Neuroreport

Amygdala enlargement in bipolar disorder and hippocampal reduction in schizophreniaAn MRI study demonstrating neuroanatomic specificity

Arch Gen Psychiatry

Magnetic resonance imaging the brain in schizophreniaThe pathophysiologic significance of structural abnormalities

Arch Gen Psychiatry

Cognitive dysmetria as an integrative theory of schizophreniaA dysfunction in cortical-subcortical-cerebellar circuitry?

Schizophr Bull

Hippocampal/amygdala volumes in geriatric depression

Psychol Med

Cognitive deficits in depression. Possible implicaitons for funcitonal neuropathology

Br J Psychiatry

Basal ganglia volumes and white matter hyperintensities in patients with bipolar disorder

Am J Psychiatry

Reduction of prefrontal cortex glucose metabolism common to three types of depression

Arch Gen Psychiatry

The neuropsychology and neuroanatomy of bipolar affective disorderA critical review

Bipolar Disord

Regional cerebral blood flow in depression measured by positron emission tomographyThe relationship with clinical dimensions

Psychol Med

Amygdalo-entorhinal inputs to the hippocampal formation in relation to schizophrenia

Ann N Y Acad Sci

Deficits in small interneurons in prefrontal and cingulate cortices in schizophrenic and schizoaffective patients

Arch Gen Psychiatry

Dementia Praecox or the Group of Schizophrenias

Increased anterior cingulate and caudate activity in bipolar mania

Biol Psychiatry

Rostral and orbital prefrontal cortex dysfunction in the manic state of bipolar disorder

Am J Psychiatry

Neuropsychological frontal lobe tests indicate that bipolar depressed patients are more impaired than unipolar

Bipolar Disord

Hippocampal volume reduction in major depression

Am J Psychiatry

Regional brain metabolic changes in patients with major depression treated with either paroxetine or interpersonal therapyPreliminary findings

Arch Gen Psychiatry

Review
Neurobiology of emotion perception II: implications for major psychiatric disorders