Abstract
The amygdala is a medial temporal lobe structure known to be involved in processing emotional conflict. However, its role in processing non-emotional conflict is not well understood. Previous studies have utilized the Stroop Task to examine brain modulation of humans under the color-word conflict scenario, which is non-emotional conflict processing, and found hippocampal theta-band (4–7 Hz) modulation. This study aims to survey amygdaloid theta power changes during non-emotional conflict processing using intracranial depth electrodes in nine epileptic patients (3 female; age 20–62). All patients were asked to perform a modified Stroop task. During task performance, local field potential (LFP) data was recorded from macro contacts sampled at 2 K Hz and used for analysis. Mean theta power change from baseline was compared between the incongruent and congruent task condition groups using a paired sample t-test. Seven patients were available for analysis after artifact exclusion. In five out of seven patients, statistically significant increases in theta-band power from baseline were noted during the incongruent task condition (paired sample t-test p < 0.001), including one patient exhibiting theta power increases in both task conditions. Average response time was 1.07 s (failure trials) and 1.04 s (success trials). No speed-accuracy tradeoff was noted in this analysis. These findings indicate that human amygdaloid theta-band modulation may play a role in processing non-emotional conflict. It builds directly upon work suggesting that the amygdala processes emotional conflict and provides a neurophysiological mechanism for non-emotional conflict processing as well.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 183-192 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Journal of Clinical Neuroscience |
Volume | 91 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2021 |
Keywords
- Amygdala
- Conflict
- Stereo Electroencephalography
- Stroop
- Theta
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Surgery
- Neurology
- Clinical Neurology
- Physiology (medical)