Rapid Interactions between the Ventral Visual Stream and Emotion-Related Structures Rely on a Two-Pathway Architecture

• Published in: The Journal of neuroscience Vol. 28; no. 11; pp. 2793 - 2803
• Main Authors: Rudrauf, David, David, Olivier, Lachaux, Jean-Philippe, Kovach, Christopher K, Martinerie, Jacques, Renault, Bernard, Damasio, Antonio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Soc Neuroscience 12.03.2008; Society for Neuroscience
• Subjects: Adult; Emotions; Emotions - physiology; Humans; Life Sciences; Magnetoencephalography; Magnetoencephalography - methods; Male; Middle Aged; Nerve Net; Nerve Net - physiology; Neurons and Cognition; Photic Stimulation; Photic Stimulation - methods; Time Factors; Visual Cortex; Visual Cortex - physiology; Visual Pathways; Visual Pathways - physiology; Visual Perception; Visual Perception - physiology; attention; visual; limbic; emotion; magnetoencephalography; network
• ISSN: 0270-6474; 1529-2401; 1529-2401
• DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3476-07.2008

Visual attention can be driven by the affective significance of visual stimuli before full-fledged processing of the stimuli. Two kinds of models have been proposed to explain this phenomenon: models involving sequential processing along the ventral visual stream, with secondary feedback from emotion-related structures (“two-stage models”); and models including additional short-cut pathways directly reaching the emotion-related structures (“two-pathway models”). We tested which type of model would best predict real magnetoencephalographic responses in subjects presented with arousing visual stimuli, using realistic models of large-scale cerebral architecture and neural biophysics. The results strongly support a “two-pathway” hypothesis. Both standard models including the retinotectal pathway and nonstandard models including cortical–cortical long-range fasciculi appear plausible.