Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2019 Jan 1.
Published in final edited form as: N Engl J Med. 2014 Dec 4;371(23):2207–2216. doi: 10.1056/NEJMra1315612

Figure 2. Functional MRI Study of Face Processing.

Figure 2.

In the study, a child views a series of faces expressing various emotions. To ensure attention to each face, the child is asked to identify the sex of the person. In healthy children, faces with fearful expressions elicit greater amygdala activation than faces with neutral expressions. Faces with emotional expressions other than fear elicit activation in other structures, including the insula and prefrontal cortex. Amygdala activation in response to fearful faces is reduced in youth with conduct disorder and callous–unemotional traits, as compared with either healthy youth or those who have conduct disorder without callous–unemotional traits.