TY - JOUR
T1 - Glutamate and GABA contributions to medial prefrontal cortical activity to emotion
T2 - Implications for mood disorders
AU - Stan, Ana D.
AU - Schirda, Claudiu V.
AU - Bertocci, Michele A.
AU - Bebko, Genna M.
AU - Kronhaus, Dina M.
AU - Aslam, Haris A.
AU - LaBarbara, Eduard J.
AU - Tanase, Costin
AU - Lockovich, Jeanette C.
AU - Pollock, Myrna H.
AU - Stiffler, Richelle S.
AU - Phillips, Mary L.
PY - 2014/9/30
Y1 - 2014/9/30
N2 - The dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (MdPFC) and anterior cingulate cortices (ACC) play a critical role in implicit emotion regulation; however the understanding of the specific neurotransmitters that mediate such role is lacking. In this study, we examined relationships between MdPFC concentrations of two neurotransmitters, glutamate and γ-amino butyric acid (GABA), and BOLD activity in ACC during performance of an implicit facial emotion-processing task. Twenty healthy volunteers, aged 20-35 years, were scanned while performing an implicit facial emotion-processing task, whereby presented facial expressions changed from neutral to one of the four emotions: happy, anger, fear, or sad. Glutamate concentrations were measured before and after the emotion-processing task in right MdPFC using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). GABA concentrations were measured in bilateral MdPFC after the emotion-processing task. Multiple regression models were run to determine the relative contribution of glutamate and GABA concentration, age, and gender to BOLD signal in ACC to each of the four emotions. Multiple regression analyses revealed a significant negative correlation between MdPFC GABA concentration and BOLD signal in subgenual ACC (p<0.05, corrected) to sad versus shape contrast. For the anger versus shape contrast, there was a significant negative correlation between age and BOLD signal in pregenual ACC (p<0.05, corrected) and a positive correlation between MdPFC glutamate concentration (pre-task) and BOLD signal in pregenual ACC (p<0.05, corrected). Our findings are the first to provide insight into relationships between MdPFC neurotransmitter concentrations and ACC BOLD signal, and could further understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying emotion processing in healthy and mood-disordered individuals.
AB - The dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (MdPFC) and anterior cingulate cortices (ACC) play a critical role in implicit emotion regulation; however the understanding of the specific neurotransmitters that mediate such role is lacking. In this study, we examined relationships between MdPFC concentrations of two neurotransmitters, glutamate and γ-amino butyric acid (GABA), and BOLD activity in ACC during performance of an implicit facial emotion-processing task. Twenty healthy volunteers, aged 20-35 years, were scanned while performing an implicit facial emotion-processing task, whereby presented facial expressions changed from neutral to one of the four emotions: happy, anger, fear, or sad. Glutamate concentrations were measured before and after the emotion-processing task in right MdPFC using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). GABA concentrations were measured in bilateral MdPFC after the emotion-processing task. Multiple regression models were run to determine the relative contribution of glutamate and GABA concentration, age, and gender to BOLD signal in ACC to each of the four emotions. Multiple regression analyses revealed a significant negative correlation between MdPFC GABA concentration and BOLD signal in subgenual ACC (p<0.05, corrected) to sad versus shape contrast. For the anger versus shape contrast, there was a significant negative correlation between age and BOLD signal in pregenual ACC (p<0.05, corrected) and a positive correlation between MdPFC glutamate concentration (pre-task) and BOLD signal in pregenual ACC (p<0.05, corrected). Our findings are the first to provide insight into relationships between MdPFC neurotransmitter concentrations and ACC BOLD signal, and could further understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying emotion processing in healthy and mood-disordered individuals.
KW - Anger
KW - Anterior cingulate
KW - Emotion processing
KW - GABA
KW - Glutamate
KW - Sadness
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84905256924&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2014.05.016
DO - 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2014.05.016
M3 - Article
C2 - 24973815
AN - SCOPUS:84905256924
SN - 0925-4927
VL - 223
SP - 253
EP - 260
JO - Psychiatry Research - Neuroimaging
JF - Psychiatry Research - Neuroimaging
IS - 3
ER -