Arousal modulation of memory and amygdala-parahippocampal connectivity: A PET-psychophysiology study in specific phobia

Phobic fear is accompanied by intense bodily responses modulated by the amygdala. An amygdala moderated psychophysiological measure related to arousal is electrodermal activity. We evaluated the contributions of electrodermal activity to amygdala‐parahippocampal regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) d...

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Published inPsychophysiology Vol. 48; no. 11; pp. 1463 - 1469
Main Authors ÅHS, FREDRIK, PALMQUIST, ÅSA MICHELGÅRD, Pissiota, Anna, Appel, Lieuwe, FRANS, ÖRJAN, Liberzon, Israel, Furmark, Tomas, Fredrikson, Mats
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Malden, USA Blackwell Publishing Inc 01.11.2011
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Subjects
Adult
Amygdala
Amygdala - diagnostic imaging
Amygdala - physiopathology
Anatomy & physiology
Anxiety
Araneae
Arousal
Arousal - physiology
Brain Mapping
Cerebral blood flow
Cerebrovascular Circulation - physiology
Electrodermal
Fear
Fear & phobias
Female
fMRI/PET/MRI
Humans
Learning/Memory
Memory
Memory - physiology
Neural Pathways - diagnostic imaging
Neural Pathways - physiopathology
Parahippocampal gyrus
Parahippocampal Gyrus - diagnostic imaging
Parahippocampal Gyrus - physiopathology
Phobic Disorders - diagnostic imaging
Phobic Disorders - physiopathology
Positron-Emission Tomography
Psychopathology
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Summary:Phobic fear is accompanied by intense bodily responses modulated by the amygdala. An amygdala moderated psychophysiological measure related to arousal is electrodermal activity. We evaluated the contributions of electrodermal activity to amygdala‐parahippocampal regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during phobic memory encoding in subjects with spider or snake phobia. Recognition memory was increased for phobia‐related slides and covaried with rCBF in the amygdala and the parahippocampal gyrus. The covariation between parahippocampal rCBF and recognition was related to electrodermal activity suggesting that parahippocampal memory processes were associated with sympathetic activity. Electrodermal activity further mediated the amygdala effect on parahippocampal activity. Memory encoding during phobic fear therefore seems contingent on amygdala's influence on arousal and parahippocampal activity.
Bibliography:ArticleID:PSYP1231
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The present study was supported by the Swedish Research Council, the Borgström Foundation, the Swedish Brain Foundation, and the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research. We would like to thank the personnel at Uppsala Imanet for excellent research conditions and Clas Linnman for valuable comments on the manuscript.
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ISSN:0048-5772
1469-8986
1540-5958
1469-8986
1540-5958
DOI:10.1111/j.1469-8986.2011.01231.x