Top

Published in:

01-08-2010 | Original Article

Bad Mood—Bad Activation?

The Influence of Emotions on the BOLD Signal During Finger Tapping

Authors: G. Fesl, M. Demmel, J. Albrecht, R. Kopietz, V. Schoepf, A. M. Kleemann, O. Pollatos, A. Anzinger, T. Schreder, H. Brueckmann, M. Wiesmann

Published in: Clinical Neuroradiology | Issue 3/2010

Abstract

Purpose:

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the subject’s emotional state on the BOLD signal during simple finger tapping.

Material and Methods:

Twenty-nine healthy subjects participated in three functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) sessions each. The sessions differed regarding emotional states, which were induced by standardized pleasant (positive condition, POS), unpleasant (negative condition, NEG), or neutral (neutral condition, NEU) pictures taken from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) while the subjects performed a finger-tapping task (right index-to-thumb opposition). After each session, the subjects had to rate their actual mood and the pleasantness of the presented pictures. Furthermore, their state anxiety was assessed. Behavioral data were evaluated with SPSS. Functional imaging data were processed using statistical parametric mapping (SPM2) and were analyzed for main effects of emotional stimulation using an analysis of variance (ANOVA). The local maximum of interest was analyzed by a signal change analysis.

Results:

Compared to the neutral emotional state, the positive and the negative emotional states caused a reduction of signal intensity changes within the primary sensorimotor hand area during simple finger tapping. The behavioral data indicated that the unpleasant pictures had a stronger effect on the emotional state than the pleasant images. According to these data the decrease in signal intensity change was more pronounced (significant; p < 0.001) in the negative condition than in the positive condition.

Conclusion:

This study showed that the emotional state of a test person is indeed influencing fMRI results and that well-balanced subjects in a neutral mood achieve the best fMRI results.

Ogawa S, Lee TM. Magnetic resonance imaging of blood vessels at high fields: in vivo and in vitro measurements and image simulation. Magn Reson Med. 1990;16:9–18.CrossRefPubMed

Ogawa S, Lee TM, Nayak AS, Glynn P. Oxygenation-sensitive contrast in magnetic resonance image of rodent brain at high magnetic fields. Magn Reson Med. 1990;14:68–78.CrossRefPubMed

Thulborn KR, Waterton JC, Matthews PM, Radda GK. Oxygenation dependence of the transverse relaxation time of water protons in whole blood at high field. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1982;714:265–70.PubMed

Alkadhi H, Crelier GR, Boendermaker SH, Golay X, Hepp-Reymond MC, Kollias SS. Reproducibility of primary motor cortex somatotopy under controlled conditions. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2002;23:1524–32.PubMed

Fernandez G, Specht K, Weis S, Tendolkar I, Reuber M, Fell J, Klaver P, Ruhlmann J, Reul J, Elger CE. Intrasubject reproducibility of presurgical language lateralization and mapping using fMRI. Neurology. 2003;60:969–75.PubMed

Fesl G, Braun B, Rau S, Wiesmann M, Ruge M, Bruhns P, Linn J, Stephan T, Ilmberger J, Tonn JC, Bruckmann H. Is the center of mass (COM) a reliable parameter for the localization of brain function in fMRI? Eur Radiol. 2008;18:1031–7.CrossRefPubMed

Havel P, Braun B, Rau S, Tonn JC, Fesl G, Bruckmann H, Ilmberger J. Reproducibility of activation in four motor paradigms: an fMRI study. J Neurol. 2006;253:471–6.CrossRefPubMed

Kiehl KA, Liddle PF. Reproducibility of the hemodynamic response to auditory oddball stimuli: a six-week test-retest study. Hum Brain Mapp. 2003;18:42–52.CrossRefPubMed

Liu JZ, Zhang L, Brown RW, Yue GH. Reproducibility of fMRI at 1.5 T in a strictly controlled motor task. Magn Reson Med. 2004;52:751–60.CrossRefPubMed

10.

Loubinoux I, Carel C, Alary F, Boulanouar K, Viallard G, Manelfe C, Rascol O, Celsis P, Chollet F. Within-session and between-session reproducibility of cerebral sensorimotor activation: a test-retest effect evidenced with functional magnetic resonance imaging. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2001;21:592–607.CrossRefPubMed

11.

Machielsen WC, Rombouts SA, Barkhof F, Scheltens P, Witter MP. FMRI of visual encoding: reproducibility of activation. Hum Brain Mapp. 2000;9:156–64.CrossRefPubMed

12.

Mayer AR, Xu J, Pare-Blagoev J, Posse S. Reproducibility of activation in Broca’s area during covert generation of single words at high field: a single trial FMRI study at 4 T. Neuroimage. 2006;32:129–37.CrossRefPubMed

13.

McGonigle DJ, Howseman AM, Athwal BS, Friston KJ, Frackowiak RS, Holmes AP. Variability in fMRI: an examination of intersession differences. Neuroimage. 2000;11:708–34.CrossRefPubMed

14.

Rau S, Fesl G, Bruhns P, Havel P, Braun B, Tonn JC, Ilmberger J. Reproducibility of activations in Broca area with two language tasks: a functional MR imaging study. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2007;28:1346–53.CrossRefPubMed

15.

Rombouts SA, Barkhof F, Hoogenraad FG, Sprenger M, Scheltens P. Within-subject reproducibility of visual activation patterns with functional magnetic resonance imaging using multislice echo planar imaging. Magn Reson Imaging. 1998;16:105–13.CrossRefPubMed

16.

Rutten GJ, Ramsey NF, van Rijen PC, van Veelen CW. Reproducibility of fMRI-determined language lateralization in individual subjects. Brain Lang. 2002;80:421–37.CrossRefPubMed

17.

Tegeler C, Strother SC, Anderson JR, Kim SG. Reproducibility of BOLD-based functional MRI obtained at 4 T. Hum Brain Mapp. 1999;7:267–83.CrossRefPubMed

18.

Yetkin FZ, McAuliffe TL, Cox R, Haughton VM. Test-retest precision of functional MR in sensory and motor task activation. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 1996;17:95–8.PubMed

19.

Atlas SW, Howard RS 2nd, Maldjian J, Alsop D, Detre JA, Listerud J, D’Esposito M, Judy KD, Zager E, Stecker M. Functional magnetic resonance imaging of regional brain activity in patients with intracerebral gliomas: findings and implications for clinical management. Neurosurgery. 1996;38:329–38.CrossRefPubMed

20.

Jack CRJ, Lee CC, Ward HA, Riederer SJ. The role of functional MRI in planning perirolandic surgery. In: Moonen CTW, Bandettini PA, editors. Functional MRI. Berlin: Springer; 2000. p. 539–50.

21.

Kim PE, Singh M. Functional magnetic resonance imaging for brain mapping in neurosurgery. Neurosurg Focus. 2003;15:E1.CrossRefPubMed

22.

Lee CC, Ward HA, Sharbrough FW, Meyer FB, Marsh WR, Raffel C, So EL, Cascino GD, Shin C, Xu Y, Riederer SJ, Jack CR Jr. Assessment of functional MR imaging in neurosurgical planning. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 1999;20:1511–9.PubMed

23.

Mueller WM, Yetkin FZ, Hammeke TA, Morris GL 3rd, Swanson SJ, Reichert K, Cox R, Haughton VM. Functional magnetic resonance imaging mapping of the motor cortex in patients with cerebral tumors. Neurosurgery. 1996;39:515–20; discussion 520–1.CrossRefPubMed

24.

Pujol J, Conesa G, Deus J, Lopez-Obarrio L, Isamat F, Capdevila A. Clinical application of functional magnetic resonance imaging in presurgical identification of the central sulcus. J Neurosurg. 1998;88:863–9.CrossRefPubMed

25.

Tomczak RJ, Wunderlich AP, Wang Y, Braun V, Antoniadis G, Gorich J, Richter HP, Brambs HJ. fMRI for preoperative neurosurgical mapping of motor cortex and language in a clinical setting. J Comput Assist Tomogr. 2000;24:927–34.CrossRefPubMed

26.

Krings T, Reinges MH, Erberich S, Kemeny S, Rohde V, Spetzger U, Korinth M, Willmes K, Gilsbach JM, Thron A. Functional MRI for presurgical planning: problems, artefacts, and solution strategies. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2001;70:749–60.CrossRefPubMed

27.

Corbetta M. Frontoparietal cortical networks for directing attention and the eye to visual locations: identical, independent, or overlapping neural systems? Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998;95:831–8.CrossRefPubMed

28.

Hugdahl K, Thomsen T, Ersland L, Rimol LM, Niemi J. The effects of attention on speech perception: an fMRI study. Brain Lang. 2003;85:37–48.CrossRefPubMed

29.

Maunsell JH, Cook EP. The role of attention in visual processing. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2002;357:1063–72.CrossRefPubMed

30.

Newman SD, Keller TA, Just MA. Volitional control of attention and brain activation in dual task performance. Hum Brain Mapp. 2007;28:109–17.CrossRefPubMed

31.

Thomsen T, Rimol LM, Ersland L, Hugdahl K. Dichotic listening reveals functional specificity in prefrontal cortex: an fMRI study. Neuroimage. 2004;21:211–8.CrossRefPubMed

32.

Lang PJ, Bradley MM, Cuthbert BN. International Affective Picture System (IAPS): affective ratings of pictures and instruction manual. Technical report A-6. Gainesville: University of Florida; 2005.

33.

Beck AT, Ward CH, Mendelson M, Mock J, Erbaugh J. An inventory for measuring depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1961;4:561–71.PubMed

34.

Laux L, Glanzmann P, Schaffner P, Spielberger CD. Das Stait-Trait-Angstinventar. Weinheim: Beltz; 1981.

35.

Friston KJ, Ashburner J, Poline JB, Frith CD, Heather JD, Frackowiak RSJ. Spatial registration and normalisation of images. Human Brain Mapping. 1995;2:165–89.CrossRef

36.

Friston KJ, Williams S, Howard R, Frackowiak RS, Turner R. Movement-related effects in fMRI time-series. Magn Reson Med. 1996;35:346–55.PubMed

37.

Jezzard P, Balaban RS. Correction for geometric distortion in echo planar images from B0 field variations. Magn Reson Med. 1995;34:65–73.CrossRefPubMed

38.

Friston KJ, Holmes AP, Worsley KJ, Poline JP, Frith CD, Frackowiak RSJ. Statistical parametric maps in functional imaging: a general linear approach. Human Brain Mapping. 1995;2:189–210.CrossRef

39.

Just MA, Carpenter PA, Keller TA, Emery L, Zajac H, Thulborn KR. Interdependence of nonoverlapping cortical systems in dual cognitive tasks. Neuroimage. 2001;14:417–26.CrossRefPubMed

40.

Just MA, Keller TA, Cynkar J. A decrease in brain activation associated with driving when listening to someone speak. Brain Res. 2008;1205:70–80.CrossRefPubMed

41.

Erthal FS, de Oliveira L, Mocaiber I, Pereira MG, Machado-Pinheiro W, Volchan E, Pessoa L. Load-dependent modulation of affective picture processing. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2005;5:388–95.CrossRefPubMed

42.

Hartikainen KM, Ogawa KH, Knight RT. Transient interference of right hemispheric function due to automatic emotional processing. Neuropsychologia. 2000;38:1576–80.CrossRefPubMed

43.

Tipples J, Sharma D. Orienting to exogenous cues and attentional bias to affective pictures reflect separate processes. Br J Psychol. 2000;91:87–97.CrossRefPubMed

Title: Bad Mood—Bad Activation?
The Influence of Emotions on the BOLD Signal During Finger Tapping
Authors: G. Fesl
M. Demmel
J. Albrecht
R. Kopietz
V. Schoepf
A. M. Kleemann
O. Pollatos
A. Anzinger
T. Schreder
H. Brueckmann
M. Wiesmann
Publication date: 01-08-2010
Publisher: Urban and Vogel
Published in: Clinical Neuroradiology / Issue 3/2010
Print ISSN: 1869-1439
Electronic ISSN: 1869-1447
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00062-010-0019-4

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on sleep in brain health

Springer Medicine

Bad Mood—Bad Activation?

The Influence of Emotions on the BOLD Signal During Finger Tapping

Abstract

Purpose:

Material and Methods:

Results:

Conclusion:

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on sleep in brain health

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Purpose:

Material and Methods:

Results:

Conclusion:

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 3/2010

DGNR 2010 - Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Neuroradiologie

MRI Contrast Agents - part of "MR-Technology Information Portal"

Comment to: Parametric Response Map as an Imaging Biomarker to Distinguish Progression from Pseudoprogression in High-Grade Glioma: Pitfalls in Perfusion MRI in Brain Tumors

Isolated PICA Dissection: An Unusual Complication of Scuba Diving

Editorial—Neurowoche 2010: A Highlight of Neuromedicine in Germany

Recurrent In-Stent Restenosis in a Symptomatic Nonatherosclerotic M1 Plaque