Bidirectional valence coding in amygdala intercalated clusters: A neural substrate for the opponent-process theory of motivation

Processing emotionally meaningful stimuli and eliciting appropriate valence-specific behavior in response is a critical brain function for survival. Thus, how positive and negative valence are represented in neural circuits and how corresponding neural substrates interact to cooperatively select app...

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Main Authors: Kenta M. Hagihara, Andreas Lüthi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:Neuroscience Research
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168010224000889
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author Kenta M. Hagihara
Andreas Lüthi
author_facet Kenta M. Hagihara
Andreas Lüthi
author_sort Kenta M. Hagihara
collection DOAJ
description Processing emotionally meaningful stimuli and eliciting appropriate valence-specific behavior in response is a critical brain function for survival. Thus, how positive and negative valence are represented in neural circuits and how corresponding neural substrates interact to cooperatively select appropriate behavioral output are fundamental questions. In previous work, we identified that two amygdala intercalated clusters show opposite response selectivity to fear- and anxiety-inducing stimuli – negative valence (Hagihara et al., 2021). Here, we further show that the two clusters also exhibit distinctly different representations of stimuli with positive valence, demonstrating a broader role of the amygdala intercalated system beyond fear and anxiety. Together with the mutually inhibitory connectivity between the two clusters, our findings suggest that they serve as an ideal neural substrate for the integrated processing of valence for the selection of behavioral output.
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spelling doaj-art-66d3f8b12f524a528c1436777e756c4e2025-08-20T02:21:07ZengElsevierNeuroscience Research0168-01022024-12-01209283310.1016/j.neures.2024.07.003Bidirectional valence coding in amygdala intercalated clusters: A neural substrate for the opponent-process theory of motivationKenta M. Hagihara0Andreas Lüthi1Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland; University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Corresponding author at: Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland.Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland; University of Basel, Basel, SwitzerlandProcessing emotionally meaningful stimuli and eliciting appropriate valence-specific behavior in response is a critical brain function for survival. Thus, how positive and negative valence are represented in neural circuits and how corresponding neural substrates interact to cooperatively select appropriate behavioral output are fundamental questions. In previous work, we identified that two amygdala intercalated clusters show opposite response selectivity to fear- and anxiety-inducing stimuli – negative valence (Hagihara et al., 2021). Here, we further show that the two clusters also exhibit distinctly different representations of stimuli with positive valence, demonstrating a broader role of the amygdala intercalated system beyond fear and anxiety. Together with the mutually inhibitory connectivity between the two clusters, our findings suggest that they serve as an ideal neural substrate for the integrated processing of valence for the selection of behavioral output.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168010224000889AmygdalaValence processingRewardPunishmentMotivationValence-specific behavior
spellingShingle Kenta M. Hagihara
Andreas Lüthi
Bidirectional valence coding in amygdala intercalated clusters: A neural substrate for the opponent-process theory of motivation
Neuroscience Research
Amygdala
Valence processing
Reward
Punishment
Motivation
Valence-specific behavior
title Bidirectional valence coding in amygdala intercalated clusters: A neural substrate for the opponent-process theory of motivation
title_full Bidirectional valence coding in amygdala intercalated clusters: A neural substrate for the opponent-process theory of motivation
title_fullStr Bidirectional valence coding in amygdala intercalated clusters: A neural substrate for the opponent-process theory of motivation
title_full_unstemmed Bidirectional valence coding in amygdala intercalated clusters: A neural substrate for the opponent-process theory of motivation
title_short Bidirectional valence coding in amygdala intercalated clusters: A neural substrate for the opponent-process theory of motivation
title_sort bidirectional valence coding in amygdala intercalated clusters a neural substrate for the opponent process theory of motivation
topic Amygdala
Valence processing
Reward
Punishment
Motivation
Valence-specific behavior
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168010224000889
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