Lateralized Brainstem and Cervical Spinal Cord Responses to Aversive Sounds: A Spinal fMRI Study.

Tiffany Kolesar,Jennifer Kornelsen,Stephen Smith

doi:10.3390/brainsci8090165

Tiffany Kolesar, Jennifer Kornelsen + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci8090165

Copy DOI

Journal: Brain sciences	Publication Date: Aug 31, 2018
Citations: 2	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Manitoba, University of Winnipeg

Abstract

Previous research has delineated the networks of brain structures involved in the perception of emotional auditory stimuli. These include the amygdala, insula, and auditory cortices, as well as frontal-lobe, basal ganglia, and cerebellar structures involved in the planning and execution of motoric behaviors. The aim of the current research was to examine whether emotional sounds also influence activity in the brainstem and cervical spinal cord. Seventeen undergraduate participants completed a spinal functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study consisting of two fMRI runs. One run consisted of three one-minute blocks of aversive sounds taken from the International Affective Digitized Sounds (IADS) stimulus set; these blocks were interleaved by 40-s rest periods. The other block consisted of emotionally neutral stimuli also drawn from the IADS. The results indicated a stark pattern of lateralization. Aversive sounds elicited greater activity than neutral sounds in the right midbrain and brainstem, and in right dorsal and ventral regions of the cervical spinal cord. Neutral stimuli, on the other hand, elicited less neural activity than aversive sounds overall; these responses were left lateralized and were found in the medial midbrain and the dorsal sensory regions of the cervical spinal cord. Together, these results demonstrate that aversive auditory stimuli elicit increased sensorimotor responses in brainstem and cervical spinal cord structures.

Highlights

On the other hand, elicited less neural activity than aversive sounds overall; these responses were left lateralized and were found in the medial midbrain and the dorsal sensory regions of the cervical spinal cord. These results demonstrate that aversive auditory stimuli elicit increased sensorimotor responses in brainstem and cervical spinal cord structures
The cervical spinal cord lies at an important nexus between the brain, which programs emotional motoric responses, and the peripheral nervous system that executes these responses
At the level of the midbrain, significant emotion-dependent activity was observed in regions of the right periaqueductal gray (PAG), right caudal inferior colliculus, and a region including the right rostral inferior colliculus and caudal superior colliculus

Summary

Introduction

The cervical spinal cord lies at an important nexus between the brain, which programs emotional motoric responses, and the peripheral nervous system that executes these responses. This region of the central nervous system consists of eight segments (C1–C8) that innervate the scalp, neck, shoulders, and upper limbs [1]. Often thought of as a purely sensorimotor structure, previous research has demonstrated that viewing emotional stimuli leads to enhanced activity in both ventral and dorsal regions of the cervical spinal cord [2]. We examine whether emotion-dependent spinal cord activity can be elicited by salient stimuli that are auditory, rather than visual, in nature

Objectives

Results

Discussion

Conclusion