Selective limbic activation and its relevance to emotional disorders

Author(s): Perlstein, W. M.

Journal/Book: Cognition Emotion. 1998; 12: 27 Church Rd, Hove BN3 2FA, East Sussex, England. Psychology Press. 331-352.

Abstract: Functional neuroimaging methods are critical for understanding the neurobiological basis of emotions in humans. Two primary paradigms have been employed for such studies: induced emotions in normal subjects, and comparison of patients suffering from emotional disorders with normal control subjects. We briefly review limitations inherent in these traditional methods and describe a third, complementary approach: Experimental elicitation of affect through pharmacological limbic stimulation with intravenous procaine HCl. In our laboratory, procaine induced bilateral activation of an anterior limbic network concomitant with powerful, transient emotional and other subjective phenomena, as well as autonomic and endocrine responses. Responses showed considerable between-subject variability, suggesting that the method can be used for exploring individual differences in the neurobiological basis of emotion and affective disposition. We discuss how this approach, as part of a triangulation strategy with other traditional imaging paradigms, can contribute to understanding emotion and its disorders, the different component of emotion-response systems (e.g. Subjective, autonomic, endocrine), and individual differences in affective disposition.

Note: Article ServanSchreiber D, Univ Pittsburgh, Sch Med, Western Psychiat Inst & Clin, 3811 Ohara St, Pittsburgh,PA 15213 USA

Keyword(s): CEREBRAL BLOOD-FLOW; POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY; METABOLIC RATES; DEPRESSION; CORTEX; STIMULATION; GLUCOSE; SYSTEM; PET

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