Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Kirstein, Cedric Fabian
• Güntürkün, Onur
• Ocklenburg, Sebastian

Titel

Ultra-high field imaging of the amygdala – A narrative review

Ist Teil von

• Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, 2023-09, Vol.152, p.105245-105245, Article 105245

Ort / Verlag

United States: Elsevier Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2023

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The amygdala is an evolutionarily conserved core structure in emotion processing and one of the key regions of interest in affective neuroscience. Results of neuroimaging studies focusing on the amygdala are, however, often heterogeneous since it is composed of functionally and neuroanatomically distinct subnuclei. Fortunately, ultra-high-field imaging offers several advances for amygdala research, most importantly more accurate representation of functional and structural properties of subnuclei and their connectivity. Most clinical studies using ultra-high-field imaging focused on major depression, suggesting either overall rightward amygdala atrophy or distinct bilateral patterns of subnuclear atrophy and hypertrophy. Other pathologies are only sparsely covered. Connectivity analyses identified widespread networks for learning and memory, stimulus processing, cognition, and social processes. They provide evidence for distinct roles of the central, basal, and basolateral nucleus, and the extended amygdala in fear and emotion processing. Amid largely sparse and ambiguous evidence, we propose theoretical and methodological considerations that will guide ultra-high-field imaging in comprehensive investigations to help disentangle the ambiguity of the amygdala’s function, structure, connectivity, and clinical relevance. •The amygdala is an evolutionary conserved core structure in emotion processing.•The amygdala is a key region in affective and clinical neuroscience.•Results of neuroimaging studies on the amygdala are highly heterogeneous.•Ultra-high-field imaging is necessary to unravel function of amygdala nuclei.•This review evaluates recent research and future directions in amygdala neuroimaging.