Comparison of Emotional Responses in Monkeys With Rhinal Cortex or Amygdala Lesions

Martine Meunier (1) , Jocelyne Bachevalier (2)

1 ISC - Institut des Sciences Cognitives
2 University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX, USA - University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX, USA

Four emotionally arousing stimuli were used to probe the behavior of monkeys with bilateral ablations of the entorhinal and perirhinal cortex. The animals' behavioral changes were then contrasted with those observed earlier (Meunier et al., 1999) in monkeys with either neurotoxic or aspiration lesions of the neighboring amygdala. Rhinal cortex ablations yielded several subtle behavioral changes, but none of them resembled any of the disorders typically seen after amygdalectomies. The changes produced by rhinal damage took mainly the form of heightened defensiveness, and attenuated submission and approach responses, that is, just the opposite of some of the most distinctive symptoms following amygdala damage. These findings raise the possibility that the rhinal cortex and amygdala have distinct, interactive, functions in normal behavioral adaptation to affective stimuli.

Mots clés: amygdala; rhinal cortex; monkey; emotion; fear; Kluver-Bucy syndrome; primates

Domaines: Neurosciences

Martine Meunier, Jocelyne Bachevalier. Comparison of Emotional Responses in Monkeys With Rhinal Cortex or Amygdala Lesions. Emotion, 2002, 2, pp.147-161. ⟨hal-00000182⟩