Figure 6.

Specializations of amygdaloid complex nuclei and MTL for neutral and fearful faces across groups. The specialized activations of baso-lateral amygdaloid nuclei (AC) and medial temporal lobe (MTL) memory network are schematized in this figure. In 8–12 years children, centro-mesial amygdaloid complex nuclei are activated for successful encoding of both neutral and fearful faces and hippocampal tail is activated for successful encoding of neutral faces. In 13–17 years adolescents, successful encoding of fearful faces is associated with activations of baso-lateral amygdaloid complex nuclei, hippocampal head and tail and parahippocampal gyrus, whereas encoding of neutral faces is associated with activations of hippocampal head and body, temporopolar, perirhinal and entorhinal cortices. The developmental shift from the engagement of centro-mesial AC nuclei in children to baso-lateral AC nuclei in adolescents may reflect the growing expertise in processing emotional facial expression, which may enhance the memory for such stimuli.