Emotions experienced during the shedding of the first primary tooth

AIM: To examine the different emotions expressed by children exfoliating their first primary tooth, evaluate their proportional distribution, and reveal possible influences of child- and parent-related variables on the reported emotions. DESIGN: A cross-sectional questionnaire was directed to parents of children who had recently shed at least one primary tooth. Primary outcome variables were the child's emotions at the time of exfoliation. Child-related determinants were sex, duration of tooth wiggle, previous accident- or caries-related visits at dentist, and having witnessed tooth exfoliation in older siblings. Parent-related determinants included socio-economic variables (education, religion, country of origin). RESULTS: One thousand two hundred and seventy-four of 3617 questionnaires were returned and analysed (35.2%). 82.0% of the parents reported positive, and 22.0% negative emotions in their child. Previous caries-related visits at the dentist diminished the likelihood of positive emotions (OR = 0.65), and accident-related visits increased the odds of positive emotions (OR = 1.57), as did an extended duration of tooth wiggle (OR = 1.98). Higher education of mothers (OR = 2.89) and fathers (OR = 1.96) and an origin from non-Western countries (OR = 2.56 and OR = 1.85, respectively) were also related to positive emotions. CONCLUSIONS: For most children, losing the first primary tooth is associated with positive emotions. Dental visits and parental factors influence these emotions. Parents and dentists should be aware of their impact on children's emotional development

Valence-Dependent Coupling of Prefrontal-Amygdala Effective Connectivity during Facial Affect Processing

Despite the importance of the prefrontal-amygdala (AMY) network for emotion processing, valence-dependent coupling within this network remains elusive. In this study, we assessed the effect of emotional valence on brain activity and effective connectivity. We tested which functional pathways within the prefrontal-AMY network are specifically engaged during the processing of emotional valence. Thirty-three healthy adults were examined with functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a dynamic faces and dynamic shapes matching task. The valence of the facial expressions varied systematically between positive, negative, and neutral across the task. Functional contrasts determined core areas of the emotion processing circuitry, comprising the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), the right lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC), the AMY, and the right fusiform face area (FFA). Dynamic causal modelling demonstrated that the bidirectional coupling within the prefrontal-AMY circuitry is modulated by emotional valence. Additionally, Bayesian model averaging showed significant bottom-up connectivity from the AMY to the MPFC during negative and neutral, but not positive, valence. Thus, our study provides strong evidence for alterations of bottom-up coupling within the prefrontal-AMY network as a function of emotional valence. Thereby our results not only advance the understanding of the human prefrontal-AMY circuitry in varying valence context, but, moreover, provide a model to examine mechanisms of valence-sensitive emotional dysregulation in neuropsychiatric disorders

Valence-Dependent Coupling of Prefrontal-Amygdala Effective Connectivity during Facial Affect Processing

Despite the importance of the prefrontal-amygdala (AMY) network for emotion processing, valence-dependent coupling within this network remains elusive. In this study, we assessed the effect of emotional valence on brain activity and effective connectivity. We tested which functional pathways within the prefrontal-AMY network are specifically engaged during the processing of emotional valence. Thirty-three healthy adults were examined with functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a dynamic faces and dynamic shapes matching task. The valence of the facial expressions varied systematically between positive, negative, and neutral across the task. Functional contrasts determined core areas of the emotion processing circuitry, comprising the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), the right lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC), the AMY, and the right fusiform face area (FFA). Dynamic causal modelling demonstrated that the bidirectional coupling within the prefrontal-AMY circuitry is modulated by emotional valence. Additionally, Bayesian model averaging showed significant bottom-up connectivity from the AMY to the MPFC during negative and neutral, but not positive, valence. Thus, our study provides strong evidence for alterations of bottom-up coupling within the prefrontal-AMY network as a function of emotional valence. Thereby our results not only advance the understanding of the human prefrontal-AMY circuitry in varying valence context, but, moreover, provide a model to examine mechanisms of valence-sensitive emotional dysregulation in neuropsychiatric disorders