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Generous economic investments after basolateral amygdala damage.

ABSTRACT: Contemporary economic models hold that instrumental and impulsive behaviors underlie human social decision making. The amygdala is assumed to be involved in social-economic behavior, but its role in human behavior is poorly understood. Rodent research suggests that the basolateral amygdala (BLA) subserves instrumental behaviors and regulates the central-medial amygdala, which subserves impulsive behaviors. The human amygdala, however, typically is investigated as a single unit. If these rodent data could be translated to humans, selective dysfunction of the human BLA might constrain instrumental social-economic decisions and result in more impulsive social-economic choice behavior. Here we show that humans with selective BLA damage and a functional central-medial amygdala invest nearly 100% more money in unfamiliar others in a trust game than do healthy controls. We furthermore show that this generosity is not caused by risk-taking deviations in nonsocial contexts. Moreover, these BLA-damaged subjects do not expect higher returns or perceive people as more trustworthy, implying that their generous investments are not instrumental in nature. These findings suggest that the human BLA is essential for instrumental behaviors in social-economic interactions.

SUBMITTER: van Honk J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3574920 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Hypervigilance for fear after basolateral amygdala damage in humans.

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Multi-dimensional Coding by Basolateral Amygdala Neurons.

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Project description:There is ongoing debate about whether the relationship between income and pro-social behaviour depends on economic inequality. Studies investigating this question differ in their conclusions but are consistent in measuring inequality at aggregated geographic levels (i.e. at the state, region, or country-level). I hypothesise that local, more immediate manifestations of inequality are important for driving pro-social behaviour, and test the interaction between income and inequality at a much finer geographical resolution than previous studies. I first analyse the charitable giving of US households using ZIP-code level measures of inequality and data on tax deductible charitable donations reported to the IRS. I then examine whether the results generalise using a large-scale UK household survey and neighbourhood-level inequality measures. In both samples I find robust evidence of a significant interaction effect, albeit in the opposite direction as that which has been previously postulated-higher income individuals behave more pro-socially rather than less when local inequality is high.

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hCyfip1 overexpression in the basolateral amygdala of mice

Project description:CYFIP1, a protein that interacts with FMRP and regulates protein synthesis and actin dynamics, is over-expressed in Dup15q syndrome as well as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). While CYFIP1 heterozygosity has been rigorously studied due to its loss in 15q11.2 deletion, Prader-Willi and Angelman syndrome, the effects of CYFIP1 over-expression, as is observed in patients with CYFIP1 duplication are less well understood. Here, we developed a mouse model of human CYFIP1 overexpression (CYFIP1 OE) to study the effects of excess CYFIP1 on rodent behavior and biological pathways. Extensive behavioral testing of CYFIP1 OE mice reveals no changes in the core behaviors related to ASD: social interactions and repetitive behaviors. However, we did observe mild learning deficits and an exaggerated fear response. Using RNA sequencing of the basolateral amygdala, a region associated with fear response, we observed changes in pathways related to cytoskeletal regulation, oligodendrocytes and myelination. We also identified GABA-A subunit composition changes in BLA neurons which are part of the fear conditioning neuronal circuit. Overall, this research identifies the behavioral and molecular consequences of CYFIP1 overexpression and how they contribute to the variable phenotype seen in Dup15q syndrome and in ASD patients with excess CYFIP1.

2020-07-29 | GSE125697 | GEO

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Project description:Fear conditioning in rats leads to long term memory (LTM) formation. A central neural substrate for LTM is the basolateral amygdala. We sought the expression changes specific to LTM at 6h following anesthesia with isoflurane (a general anesthetic and an effective amnestic agent), following pain (a component of conditioning), and following conditioning in presence and absence of isoflurane. Keywords = anesthesia, amygdala, LTM, Rampil, Isoflurane, fear, memory Keywords: other

2004-12-31 | GSE1779 | GEO

Population coding of valence in the basolateral amygdala.

Project description:The basolateral amygdala (BLA) plays important roles in associative learning, by representing conditioned stimuli (CSs) and unconditioned stimuli (USs), and by forming associations between CSs and USs. However, how such associations are formed and updated remains unclear. Here we show that associative learning driven by reward and punishment profoundly alters BLA population responses, reducing noise correlations and transforming the representations of CSs to resemble the valence-specific representations of USs. This transformation is accompanied by the emergence of prevalent inhibitory CS and US responses, and by the plasticity of CS responses in individual BLA neurons. During reversal learning wherein the expected valences are reversed, BLA population CS representations are remapped onto ensembles representing the opposite valences and predict the switching in valence-specific behaviors. Our results reveal how signals predictive of opposing valences in the BLA evolve during learning, and how these signals are updated during reversal learning thereby guiding flexible behaviors.

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Project description:Research on social class and generosity suggests that higher-income individuals are less generous than poorer individuals. We propose that this pattern emerges only under conditions of high economic inequality, contexts that can foster a sense of entitlement among higher-income individuals that, in turn, reduces their generosity. Analyzing results of a unique nationally representative survey that included a real-stakes giving opportunity (n = 1,498), we found that in the most unequal US states, higher-income respondents were less generous than lower-income respondents. In the least unequal states, however, higher-income individuals were more generous. To better establish causality, we next conducted an experiment (n = 704) in which apparent levels of economic inequality in participants' home states were portrayed as either relatively high or low. Participants were then presented with a giving opportunity. Higher-income participants were less generous than lower-income participants when inequality was portrayed as relatively high, but there was no association between income and generosity when inequality was portrayed as relatively low. This research finds that the tendency for higher-income individuals to be less generous pertains only when inequality is high, challenging the view that higher-income individuals are necessarily more selfish, and suggesting a previously undocumented way in which inequitable resource distributions undermine collective welfare.

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THE EFFECTS OF ALCOHOLISM ON THE HUMAN BASOLATERAL AMYGDALA

Project description:Alcohol affects gene expression in several brain regions. The amygdala is a key structure in the brainâs emotional system and in recent years the crucial importance of the amygdala in drug-seeking and relapse has been increasingly recognized. In this study gene expression screening was used to identify genes involved in alcoholism in the human basolateral amygdala. The results show that alcoholism affects a broad range of genes and many systems including genes involved in synaptic transmission, neurotransmitter transport, structural plasticity, metabolism, energy production, transcription and RNA processing and the circadian cycle. In particular, genes involved in the glutamate system were affected in the alcoholic patients. In the amygdala the glutamate system is involved in the acquisition, consolidation, expression and extinction of associative learning, which is a vital part of addiction, and in alcohol abusers it is associated with withdrawal anxiety and neurodegeneration. Downregulation of the excitatory amino acid transporters GLAST, GLT-1 and the AMPA glutamate receptor 2 (GluR2) revealed by the microarray were confirmed by Western blots. The decreased expression of GLAST, GLT-1 and GluR2 in the alcoholic patients may increase glutamate tone and activity in the basolateral amygdala and this may contribute to neurodegeneration as well as the expression of associative memories and anxiety which underlie continued drug-seeking and chronic relapse. Two-condition experiment, alcoholics vs controls. Biological replicates: 6 alcoholics 6 controls, one replicate per array.

2010-05-22 | E-GEOD-18212 | biostudies-arrayexpress

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