Abstract
BackgroundFluid and effective social communication requires that both face identity and emotional expression information are encoded and maintained in visual short-term memory (VSTM) to enable a coherent, ongoing picture of the world and its players. This appears to be of particular evolutionary importance when confronted with potentially threatening displays of emotion - previous research has shown better VSTM for angry versus happy or neutral face identities.Methodology/Principal FindingsUsing functional magnetic resonance imaging, here we investigated the neural correlates of this angry face benefit in VSTM. Participants were shown between one and four to-be-remembered angry, happy, or neutral faces, and after a short retention delay they stated whether a single probe face had been present or not in the previous display. All faces in any one display expressed the same emotion, and the task required memory for face identity. We find enhanced VSTM for angry face identities and describe the right hemisphere brain network underpinning this effect, which involves the globus pallidus, superior temporal sulcus, and frontal lobe. Increased activity in the globus pallidus was significantly correlated with the angry benefit in VSTM. Areas modulated by emotion were distinct from those modulated by memory load.Conclusions/SignificanceOur results provide evidence for a key role of the basal ganglia as an interface between emotion and cognition, supported by a frontal, temporal, and occipital network.
Highlights
Visual short-term memory (VSTM) is an active system that temporarily stores and updates information over a period of a few seconds
Using whole-brain analysis of variance (ANOVA), and an False Discovery Rate (FDR) significance threshold of p,.05, we found a significant main effect of emotion in three areas of the right hemisphere: superior temporal sulcus (STS), prefrontal cortex (PFC) along the anterior inferior frontal sulcus (IFS), and globus pallidus internus (GPi) (Fig. 3a)
region of interest (ROI) analyses revealed that the main effect of emotion in the STS, PFC, and GPi was driven by significantly enhanced blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) responses to angry faces (Fig. 3b)
Summary
Visual short-term memory (VSTM) is an active system that temporarily stores and updates information over a period of a few seconds. Young participants were more likely to make accurate relativity judgments for negative compared to positive images (accuracy was based on whether judgments matched previously established ratings obtained from an independent group of young participants) The authors interpreted this to reflect enhanced STM for negative images, and report the opposite effect with older participants. Fluid and effective social communication requires that both face identity and emotional expression information are encoded and maintained in visual short-term memory (VSTM) to enable a coherent, ongoing picture of the world and its players. This appears to be of particular evolutionary importance when confronted with potentially threatening displays of emotion - previous research has shown better VSTM for angry versus happy or neutral face identities
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