The primate amygdala represents the positive and negative value of visual stimuli during learning

Joseph J. Paton, Marina A. Belova, Sara E. Morrison and C. Daniel Salzman ()
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Joseph J. Paton: Columbia University
Marina A. Belova: Columbia University
Sara E. Morrison: Columbia University
C. Daniel Salzman: Columbia University

Nature, 2006, vol. 439, issue 7078, 865-870

Abstract: Feeling by numbers The amygdala is recognized as a part of the brain associated with emotions such as fear and pleasure, and also with reinforcement learning, by which sensory stimuli become associated with positive or negative values. The way that neural circuits assign emotional value to visual stimuli is perhaps the most elusive aspect of this system experimentally. Now a quantitative analysis of primate amygdala neural activity during learning has identified different amygdala neuronal populations that encode the positive or negative value of visual stimuli. What is more, these signals predict when emotional learning will occur. Thus amygdala neural signals can form the basis of behavioural and physiological responses to visual stimuli endowed with emotional meaning.

Date: 2006
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DOI: 10.1038/nature04490

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