Researchers have wondered how the brain creates emotions since the early days of psychological science. With a surge of studies in affective neuroscience in recent decades, scientists are poised to answer this question. In this target article, we present a meta-analytic summary of the neuroimaging literature on human emotion. We compare the locationist approach (i.e., the hypothesis that discrete emotion categories consistently and specifically correspond to distinct brain regions) with the psychological constructionist approach (i.e., the hypothesis that discrete emotion categories are constructed of more general brain networks not specific to those categories) to better understand the brain basis of emotion. We review both locationist and psychological constructionist hypotheses of brain-emotion correspondence and report meta-analytic findings bearing on these hypotheses. Overall, we found little evidence that discrete emotion categories can be consistently and specifically localized to distinct brain regions. Instead, we found evidence that is consistent with a psychological constructionist approach to the mind: A set of interacting brain regions commonly involved in basic psychological operations of both an emotional and non-emotional nature are active during emotion experience and perception across a range of discrete emotion categories.

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The brain basis of emotion: A meta-analytic review

https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(11)60871-4.pdf

Depression in adolescence

This article updates the ethical standards and methods for the conduct of high-quality animal and human biological rhythm research, which should be especially useful for new investigators of the rhythms of life. The editors of Chronobiology International adhere to and endorse the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines of the Committee On Publication Ethics (COPE), which encourages communication of such updates at regular intervals in the journal. The journal accepts papers representing original work, no part of which was previously submitted for publication elsewhere, except as brief abstracts, as well as in-depth reviews. The majority of research papers published in Chronobiology International entails animal and human investigations. The editors and readers of the journal expect authors of submitted manuscripts to have made an important contribution to the research of biological rhythms and related phenomena using ethical methods/procedures and unbiased, accurate, and honest reporting of findings. Authors of scientific papers are required to declare all potential conflicts of interest. The journal and its editors endorse compliance of investigators to the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the Institute for Laboratory Animal Research of the National Research Council, relating to the conduct of ethical research on laboratory and other animals, and the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association, relating to the conduct of ethical research on human beings. The peer review of manuscripts by Chronobiology International thus includes judgment as to whether or not the protocols and methods conform to ethical standards. Authors are expected to show mastery of the basic methods and procedures of biological rhythm research and proper statistical assessment of data, including the appropriate application of time series data analyses, as briefly reviewed in this article. The journal editors strive to consistently achieve high standards for the research of original and review papers reported in Chronobiology International, and current examples of expectations are presented herein.

Ethics and methods for biological rhythm research on animals and human beings

Atlas of the Human Brain.

There is ample empirical evidence for an asymmetry in the way that adults use positive versus negative information to make sense of their world; specifically, across an array of psychological situations and tasks, adults display a negativity bias, or the propensity to attend to, learn from, and use negative information far more than positive information This bias is argued to serve critical evolutionarily adaptive functions, but its developmental presence and ontogenetic emergence have never been seriously considered The authors argue for the existence of the negativity bias in early development and that it is evident especially in research on infant social referencing but also in other developmental domains They discuss ontogenetic mechanisms underlying the emergence of this bias and explore not only its evolutionary but also its developmental functions and consequences Throughout, the authors suggest ways to further examine the negativity bias in infants and older children, and they make testable predictions that would help clarify the nature of the negativity bias during early development

/pdf/not-all-emotions-are-created-equal-the-negativity-bias-in-4zaqra8egt.pdf

Not All Emotions Are Created Equal: The Negativity Bias in Social-Emotional Development

Objective Behavioral inhibition (BI) has been associated with increased risk for developing social anxiety disorder (SAD); however, the degree of risk associated with BI has yet to be systematically examined and quantified. The goal of the present study was to quantify the association between childhood BI and risk for developing SAD. Method A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify studies that assessed both BI and SAD. Meta-analyses were performed to estimate the odds ratio (OR) of the association between BI and SAD in children. Results Seven studies met inclusion criteria. BI was associated with a greater than sevenfold increase in risk for developing SAD (odds ratio=7.59, p Conclusions Identifying early developmental risk factors is critical for preventing psychiatric illness. Given that 15% of all children show extreme BI, and that almost half of these inhibited children will eventually develop SAD, we propose that BI is one of the largest single risk factors for developing SAD.

/pdf/behavioral-inhibition-and-risk-for-developing-social-anxiety-2mexts0bbl.pdf

Behavioral Inhibition and Risk for Developing Social Anxiety Disorder: A Meta-Analytic Study

The Human BNST: Functional Role in Anxiety and Addiction

BNST neurocircuitry in humans.

http://zaldlab.psy.vanderbilt.edu/resources/Publications/jub10ni.pdf

A unique role for the human amygdala in novelty detection

Background Although a substantial decline in dental caries has occurred among U.S. children, not everyone has benefited equally. The first-ever surgeon general's report on oral health in America indicates that the burden of oral diseases is found in poor Americans. This study investigates the relationship between community socioeconomic status, or SES, and dental health of children. Methods An oral health survey of 17,256 children, representing 93 percent of children residing in 62 Tennessee communities, was conducted in public elementary schools during the 1996–1997 school year. Portable dental equipment was used for examinations, and data from each examination were entered directly into a laptop computer. The authors performed analyses of covariance to examine the relationship between community SES (low/medium/ high) and dental health, controlling for community fluoridation. Results Community SES was significantly related to caries experience in the primary teeth, the proportion of untreated caries in the primary and permanent teeth, dental treatment needs, dental sealants and incisor trauma. Overall, dental health was significantly worse for low-SES communities than for medium- and high-SES communities. Conclusion The authors conclude that all specific dental indexes used to measure children's dental health in this study, with the exceptions of caries experience in the permanent teeth and sealant presence, were inversely related to the communities' SES. The percentage of children with dental sealants was directly related to the community's SES. Practice Implications Further improvements in oral health will necessitate that community-based preventive programs and access to quality dental care be made available to children who are identified as being at highest risk of experiencing oral disease.

Jennifer Urbano Blackford

Papers

Behavioral Inhibition and Risk for Developing Social Anxiety Disorder: A Meta-Analytic Study

The Human BNST: Functional Role in Anxiety and Addiction

BNST neurocircuitry in humans.

A unique role for the human amygdala in novelty detection

Community socioeconomic status and children's dental health.