Abstract

Subjective emotional experience that is congruent with a given situation (i.e., target emotions) is critical for human survival (e.g., feeling disgusted in response to contaminated food motivates withdrawal behaviors). Neurodegenerative diseases including frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease affect brain regions critical for cognitive and emotional functioning, resulting in increased experience of emotions incongruent with the situation (i.e., non-target emotions, such as feeling happy when seeing someone grieving). We examined neuroanatomical correlates of subjective experience of non-target emotions in 147 patients with neurodegenerative diseases and 26 healthy individuals. Participants watched three films intended to elicit particular target emotions and rated their experience of negative and positive target and non-target emotions after watching each film. We found that smaller volume in left hemisphere regions (e.g., caudate, putamen, and dorsal anterior insula) was associated with greater experience of negative non-target emotions. Follow-up analyses confirmed that these effects were left-lateralized. No correlates emerged for positive non-target emotions. These findings suggest that volume loss in left-hemisphere regions produces a more diffuse, incongruent experience of non-target emotions. These findings provide a potential neuroanatomical basis for understanding how subjective emotional experience is constructed in the brain and how this can be disrupted in neurodegenerative disease.

中文翻译：

---

左侧脑结构中较小的体积与神经退行性疾病中消极非目标情绪的更多体验相关。

摘要

与给定情况（即目标情绪）一致的主观情绪体验对人类生存至关重要（例如，对受污染的食物感到厌恶会激发戒断行为）。包括额颞叶痴呆和阿尔茨海默病在内的神经退行性疾病会影响对认知和情绪功能至关重要的大脑区域，导致与情境不一致的情绪体验增加（即非目标情绪，例如看到某人悲伤时感到高兴）。我们检查了 147 名神经退行性疾病患者和 26 名健康个体的非目标情绪主观体验的神经解剖学相关性。参与者观看了三部旨在引发特定目标情绪的电影，并在观看每部电影后对他们对消极和积极的目标情绪和非目标情绪的体验进行评分。我们发现左半球区域（例如尾状核、壳核和背侧前脑岛）的较小体积与更多的负面非目标情绪体验相关。后续分析证实这些影响是左侧化的。没有出现积极的非目标情绪的相关性。这些发现表明，左半球区域的体积损失会产生更分散、不一致的非目标情绪体验。这些发现为理解主观情绪体验如何在大脑中构建以及如何在神经退行性疾病中被破坏提供了潜在的神经解剖学基础。我们发现左半球区域（例如尾状核、壳核和背侧前脑岛）的较小体积与更多的负面非目标情绪体验相关。后续分析证实这些影响是左侧化的。没有出现积极的非目标情绪的相关性。这些发现表明，左半球区域的体积损失会产生更分散、不一致的非目标情绪体验。这些发现为理解主观情绪体验如何在大脑中构建以及如何在神经退行性疾病中被破坏提供了潜在的神经解剖学基础。我们发现左半球区域（例如尾状核、壳核和背侧前脑岛）的较小体积与更多的负面非目标情绪体验相关。后续分析证实这些影响是左侧化的。没有出现积极的非目标情绪的相关性。这些发现表明，左半球区域的体积损失会产生更分散、不一致的非目标情绪体验。这些发现为理解主观情绪体验如何在大脑中构建以及如何在神经退行性疾病中被破坏提供了潜在的神经解剖学基础。后续分析证实这些影响是左侧化的。没有出现积极的非目标情绪的相关性。这些发现表明，左半球区域的体积损失会产生更分散、不一致的非目标情绪体验。这些发现为理解主观情绪体验如何在大脑中构建以及如何在神经退行性疾病中被破坏提供了潜在的神经解剖学基础。后续分析证实这些影响是左侧化的。没有出现积极的非目标情绪的相关性。这些发现表明，左半球区域的体积损失会产生更分散、不一致的非目标情绪体验。这些发现为理解主观情绪体验如何在大脑中构建以及如何在神经退行性疾病中被破坏提供了潜在的神经解剖学基础。