Functional magnetic resonance imaging studies frequently use emotional face processing tasks to probe neural circuitry related to psychiatric disorders and treatments with an emphasis on regions within the salience network (e.g., amygdala). Findings across previous test-retest reliability studies of emotional face processing have shown high variability, potentially due to differences in data analytic approaches. The present study comprehensively examined the test-retest reliability of an emotional faces task utilizing multiple approaches to region of interest (ROI) analysis and by examining voxel-wise reliability across the entire brain for both neural activation and functional connectivity. Analyses included 42 healthy adult participants who completed an fMRI scan concurrent with an emotional faces task on two separate days with an average of 25.52 days between scans. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated for the 'FACES-SHAPES' and 'FACES' (compared to implicit baseline) contrasts across the following: anatomical ROIs identified from a publicly available brain atlas (i.e., Brainnetome), functional ROIs consisting of 5-mm spheres centered on peak voxels from a publicly available meta-analytic database (i.e., Neurosynth), and whole-brain, voxel-wise analysis. Whole-brain, voxel-wise analyses of functional connectivity were also conducted using both anatomical and functional seed ROIs. While group-averaged neural activation maps were consistent across time, only one anatomical ROI and two functional ROIs showed good or excellent individual-level reliability for neural activation. The anatomical ROI was the right medioventral fusiform gyrus for the FACES contrast (ICC = 0.60). The functional ROIs were the left and the right fusiform face area (FFA) for both FACES-SHAPES and FACES (Left FFA ICCs = 0.69 & 0.79; Right FFA ICCs = 0.68 & 0.66). Poor reliability (ICCs < 0.4) was identified for almost all other anatomical and functional ROIs, with some exceptions showing fair reliability (ICCs = 0.4-0.59). Whole-brain voxel-wise analysis of neural activation identified voxels with good (ICCs = 0.6-0.74) to excellent reliability (ICCs > 0.75) that were primarily located in visual cortex, with several clusters in bilateral dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Whole-brain voxel-wise analyses of functional connectivity for amygdala and fusiform gyrus identified very few voxels with good to excellent reliability using both anatomical and functional seed ROIs. Exceptions included clusters in right cerebellum and right DLPFC that showed reliable connectivity with left amygdala (ICCs > 0.6). In conclusion, results indicate that visual cortical regions demonstrate good reliability at the individual level for neural activation, but reliability is generally poor for salience regions often focused on within psychiatric research (e.g., amygdala). Given these findings, future clinical neuroimaging studies using emotional faces tasks to examine individual differences might instead focus on visual regions and their role in psychiatric disorders.

中文翻译：

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视觉皮层区域显示出足够的重测可靠性，而在情绪面部处理期间显着区域不可靠

功能磁共振成像研究经常使用情绪面部处理任务来探测与精神疾病和治疗相关的神经回路，重点是显着网络内的区域（例如杏仁核）。之前对情绪面部处理的重测可靠性研究的结果显示出高度可变性，这可能是由于数据分析方法的差异。本研究利用多种兴趣区域 (ROI) 分析方法，并通过检查整个大脑中神经激活和功能连接的体素可靠性，全面检查了情绪面孔任务的重测可靠性。分析包括 42 名健康成年参与者，他们在两个不同的日子里完成了 fMRI 扫描和情绪面部任务，平均为 25。扫描间隔 52 天。计算“面部形状”和“面部”（与隐式基线相比）的类内相关系数 (ICC) 对比如下：从公开可用的大脑图谱（即 Brainnetome）中识别的解剖 ROI，由 5 个组成的功能 ROI -mm 球体以来自公开可用的元分析数据库（即 Neurosynth）和全脑体素分析的峰值体素为中心。还使用解剖和功能种子 ROI 对功能连接进行了全脑体素分析。虽然组平均神经激活图在整个时间范围内是一致的，但只有一个解剖 ROI 和两个功能 ROI 显示出良好或出色的个体级神经激活可靠性。解剖学 ROI 是面部对比 (ICC = 0.60) 的右侧腹中梭状回。功能 ROI 是 FACES-SHAPES 和 FACES 的左侧和右侧梭形面部区域 (FFA)（左侧 FFA ICCs = 0.69 & 0.79；右侧 FFA ICCs = 0.68 & 0.66）。几乎所有其他解剖和功能 ROI 都被确定为可靠性差（ICCs < 0.4），但有一些例外显示出相当的可靠性（ICCs = 0.4-0.59）。对神经激活的全脑体素分析确定了具有良好 (ICCs = 0.6-0.74) 到出色可靠性 (ICCs > 0.75) 的体素，这些体素主要位于视觉皮层，在双侧背外侧前额叶皮层 (DLPFC) 中有几个簇。杏仁核和梭状回功能连通性的全脑体素分析确定了极少数体素使用解剖和功能种子 ROI 具有良好到出色的可靠性。例外包括右侧小脑和右侧 DLPFC 中的簇，它们显示出与左侧杏仁核的可靠连接（ICC > 0.6）。总之，结果表明视觉皮层区域在神经激活的个体水平上表现出良好的可靠性，但对于通常集中在精神病学研究中的显着区域（例如杏仁核），可靠性通常较差。鉴于这些发现，未来使用情绪面孔任务来检查个体差异的临床神经影像学研究可能会转而关注视觉区域及其在精神疾病中的作用。例外包括右侧小脑和右侧 DLPFC 中的簇，它们显示出与左侧杏仁核的可靠连接（ICC > 0.6）。总之，结果表明视觉皮层区域在神经激活的个体水平上表现出良好的可靠性，但对于通常集中在精神病学研究中的显着区域（例如杏仁核），可靠性通常较差。鉴于这些发现，未来使用情绪面孔任务来检查个体差异的临床神经影像学研究可能会转而关注视觉区域及其在精神疾病中的作用。例外包括右侧小脑和右侧 DLPFC 中的簇，它们显示出与左侧杏仁核的可靠连接（ICC > 0.6）。总之，结果表明视觉皮层区域在神经激活的个体水平上表现出良好的可靠性，但对于通常集中在精神病学研究中的显着区域（例如杏仁核），可靠性通常较差。鉴于这些发现，未来使用情绪面孔任务来检查个体差异的临床神经影像学研究可能会转而关注视觉区域及其在精神疾病中的作用。但对于通常集中在精神病学研究中的显着区域（例如杏仁核），可靠性通常较差。鉴于这些发现，未来使用情绪面孔任务来检查个体差异的临床神经影像学研究可能会转而关注视觉区域及其在精神疾病中的作用。但对于通常集中在精神病学研究中的显着区域（例如杏仁核），可靠性通常较差。鉴于这些发现，未来使用情绪面孔任务来检查个体差异的临床神经影像学研究可能会转而关注视觉区域及其在精神疾病中的作用。