Decoding brain basis of laughter and crying in natural scenes
Laughter and crying are universal signals of prosociality and distress, respectively. Here we investigated the functional brain basis of perceiving laughter and crying using naturalistic functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) approach. We measured haemodynamic brain activity evoked by laughter...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-06-01
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| Series: | NeuroImage |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811923002288 |
| _version_ | 1797837205229535232 |
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| author | Lauri Nummenmaa Tuulia Malèn Sanaz Nazari-Farsani Kerttu Seppälä Lihua Sun Severi Santavirta Henry K. Karlsson Matthew Hudson Jussi Hirvonen Mikko Sams Sophie Scott Vesa Putkinen |
| author_facet | Lauri Nummenmaa Tuulia Malèn Sanaz Nazari-Farsani Kerttu Seppälä Lihua Sun Severi Santavirta Henry K. Karlsson Matthew Hudson Jussi Hirvonen Mikko Sams Sophie Scott Vesa Putkinen |
| author_sort | Lauri Nummenmaa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Laughter and crying are universal signals of prosociality and distress, respectively. Here we investigated the functional brain basis of perceiving laughter and crying using naturalistic functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) approach. We measured haemodynamic brain activity evoked by laughter and crying in three experiments with 100 subjects in each. The subjects i) viewed a 20-minute medley of short video clips, and ii) 30 min of a full-length feature film, and iii) listened to 13.5 min of a radio play that all contained bursts of laughter and crying. Intensity of laughing and crying in the videos and radio play was annotated by independent observes, and the resulting time series were used to predict hemodynamic activity to laughter and crying episodes. Multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) was used to test for regional selectivity in laughter and crying evoked activations. Laughter induced widespread activity in ventral visual cortex and superior and middle temporal and motor cortices. Crying activated thalamus, cingulate cortex along the anterior-posterior axis, insula and orbitofrontal cortex. Both laughter and crying could be decoded accurately (66–77% depending on the experiment) from the BOLD signal, and the voxels contributing most significantly to classification were in superior temporal cortex. These results suggest that perceiving laughter and crying engage distinct neural networks, whose activity suppresses each other to manage appropriate behavioral responses to others’ bonding and distress signals. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T15:21:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fd1a649c16464b73a50a28a6cb859040 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1095-9572 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T15:21:01Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | NeuroImage |
| spelling | doaj.art-fd1a649c16464b73a50a28a6cb8590402023-04-29T14:47:11ZengElsevierNeuroImage1095-95722023-06-01273120082Decoding brain basis of laughter and crying in natural scenesLauri Nummenmaa0Tuulia Malèn1Sanaz Nazari-Farsani2Kerttu Seppälä3Lihua Sun4Severi Santavirta5Henry K. Karlsson6Matthew Hudson7Jussi Hirvonen8Mikko Sams9Sophie Scott10Vesa Putkinen11Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Finland; Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Finland; Department of Psychology, University of Turku, Finland; Corresponding author.Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Finland; Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, FinlandTurku PET Centre, University of Turku, Finland; Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, FinlandTurku PET Centre, University of Turku, Finland; Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Finland; Department of Medical Physics, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, FinlandTurku PET Centre, University of Turku, Finland; Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, FinlandTurku PET Centre, University of Turku, Finland; Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, FinlandTurku PET Centre, University of Turku, Finland; Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, FinlandTurku PET Centre, University of Turku, Finland; Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Finland; School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK; Brain Research & Imaging Centre, Faculty of Health, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UKDepartment of Radiology, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland; Medical Imaging Center, Department of Radiology, Tampere University and Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, FinlandDepartment of Biomedical Engineering and Computational Science, Aalto University, FinlandInstitute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, United KingdomTurku PET Centre, University of Turku, Finland; Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, FinlandLaughter and crying are universal signals of prosociality and distress, respectively. Here we investigated the functional brain basis of perceiving laughter and crying using naturalistic functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) approach. We measured haemodynamic brain activity evoked by laughter and crying in three experiments with 100 subjects in each. The subjects i) viewed a 20-minute medley of short video clips, and ii) 30 min of a full-length feature film, and iii) listened to 13.5 min of a radio play that all contained bursts of laughter and crying. Intensity of laughing and crying in the videos and radio play was annotated by independent observes, and the resulting time series were used to predict hemodynamic activity to laughter and crying episodes. Multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) was used to test for regional selectivity in laughter and crying evoked activations. Laughter induced widespread activity in ventral visual cortex and superior and middle temporal and motor cortices. Crying activated thalamus, cingulate cortex along the anterior-posterior axis, insula and orbitofrontal cortex. Both laughter and crying could be decoded accurately (66–77% depending on the experiment) from the BOLD signal, and the voxels contributing most significantly to classification were in superior temporal cortex. These results suggest that perceiving laughter and crying engage distinct neural networks, whose activity suppresses each other to manage appropriate behavioral responses to others’ bonding and distress signals.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811923002288 |
| spellingShingle | Lauri Nummenmaa Tuulia Malèn Sanaz Nazari-Farsani Kerttu Seppälä Lihua Sun Severi Santavirta Henry K. Karlsson Matthew Hudson Jussi Hirvonen Mikko Sams Sophie Scott Vesa Putkinen Decoding brain basis of laughter and crying in natural scenes NeuroImage |
| title | Decoding brain basis of laughter and crying in natural scenes |
| title_full | Decoding brain basis of laughter and crying in natural scenes |
| title_fullStr | Decoding brain basis of laughter and crying in natural scenes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Decoding brain basis of laughter and crying in natural scenes |
| title_short | Decoding brain basis of laughter and crying in natural scenes |
| title_sort | decoding brain basis of laughter and crying in natural scenes |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811923002288 |
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