How the brain balances emotion and reason

Date:
September 28, 2020
Source:
Society for Neuroscience
Summary:
Navigating through life requires balancing emotion and reason,
a feat accomplished by the brain region 'area 32' of the anterior
cingulate cortex. The area maintains emotional equilibrium by
relaying information between cognitive and emotional brain regions,
according to new research.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Navigating through life requires balancing emotion and reason, a feat accomplished by the brain region "area 32" of the anterior cingulate
cortex.

The area maintains emotional equilibrium by relaying information between cognitive and emotional brain regions, according to new research in
monkeys published in JNeurosci.


========================================================================== Emotional balance goes haywire in mood disorders like depression,
leading to unchecked negative emotions and an inability to break out of rumination. In fact, people with depression often have an overactive
area 25, a region involved in emotional expression. Healthy emotional regulation requires communication between cognitive regions, like the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and emotion regions, like area
25, also known as the subgenual cortex. But because these two areas are
weakly connected, there must be a middleman involved.

Joyce et al. used bidirectional neuron tracers to visualize the
connections between the DLPFC, area 25, and area 32, a potential
middleman, in rhesus monkeys. The DLPFC connects to the deepest layers of
area 32, where the strongest inhibitory neurons reside. Area 32 connects
to every layer of area 25, positioning it as a powerful regulator
of area 25 activity. In healthy brains, the DLPFC signals to area 32
to balance area 25 activity, allowing emotional equilibrium. But in
depression, silence from the DLPFC results in too much area 25 activity
and out-of-control emotional processing.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Society_for_Neuroscience. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Mary Kate P. Joyce, Miguel A'ngel Garci'a-Cabezas, Yohan J. John,
Helen
Barbas. Serial prefrontal pathways are positioned to balance
cognition and emotion in primates. The Journal of Neuroscience,
2020; JN-RM-0860-20 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0860-20.2020 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200928133155.htm

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