Can the Outputs of LGN Y-Cells Support Emotion Recognition? A Computational Study.

Andrea De Cesarei,Maurizio Codispoti

doi:10.1155/2015/695921

Andrea De Cesarei, Maurizio Codispoti

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/695921

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Abstract

It has been suggested that emotional visual input is processed along both a slower cortical pathway and a faster subcortical pathway which comprises the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), the superior colliculus, the pulvinar, and finally the amygdala. However, anatomical as well as functional evidence concerning the subcortical route is lacking. Here, we adopt a computational approach in order to investigate whether the visual representation that is achieved in the LGN may support emotion recognition and emotional response along the subcortical route. In four experiments, we show that the outputs of LGN Y-cells support neither facial expression categorization nor the same/different expression matching by an artificial classificator. However, the same classificator is able to perform at an above chance level in a statistics-based categorization of scenes containing animals and scenes containing people and of light and dark patterns. It is concluded that the visual representation achieved in the LGN is insufficient to allow for the recognition of emotional facial expression.

Highlights

An influential model of emotion processing suggests that visual information is processed along two pathways: a slower cortical pathway and a faster subcortical pathway [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
We show that the outputs of lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) Y-cells support neither facial expression categorization nor the same/different expression matching by an artificial classificator
It has been suggested that the subcortical pathway connects the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) to the superior colliculus, the pulvinar, and the amygdala [1, 2], which is responsible for the detection of emotional stimuli such as fearful faces [5,6,7]

Summary

Introduction

An influential model of emotion processing suggests that visual information is processed along two pathways: a slower cortical pathway and a faster subcortical pathway [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. It has been suggested that the subcortical pathway connects the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) to the superior colliculus, the pulvinar, and the amygdala [1, 2], which is responsible for the detection of emotional stimuli such as fearful faces [5,6,7]. This pathway could allow for emotional recognition under critical visual conditions such as brief exposure, peripheral viewing, low visibility, or cortical lesions. In humans direct evidence of the subcortical pathway is still lacking, but indirect evidence comes from a study on binocular rivalry [13] and from a blindsight patient (patient G.Y. [14]; but see [15,16,17] for evidence of extrastriate activity in the same patient)

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