Oxford News
Oxford scientists uncover how the brain resolves emotional ambiguity
Scientists at the University of Oxford have demonstrated, for the first time, that a key emotional centre deep in the human brain directly influences how we interpret ambiguous social cues.
In a new study, published in Neuron, researchers used low-intensity focused ultrasound to temporarily and non-invasively alter activity in the amygdala – a region known to be involved in emotion and affected in depression. They found that this changed how people responded to facial expressions, particularly when those expressions were emotionally unclear.
The findings provide rare causal evidence in humans about how the brain processes uncertainty in emotional situations, with potential implications for understanding mental health conditions.
Miriam Klein-Flügge, Associate Professor and Wellcome Henry Dale and ERC-UKRI Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging (OxCIN), said: ‘It has not been previously possible to change activity in deep areas of the human brain without requiring surgery. Oxford has been a key player in establishing a new, non-invasive neurostimulation technique called transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS), over many years, and this is the first study that applies this stimulation to the human amygdala – one of the key centres for emotion processing – while also measuring very precise neuroimaging signals to assess how we have changed the brain.’
What the study found
When the amygdala was temporarily modulated, participants became more likely to approach neutral (emotionally ambiguous) faces, suggesting they interpreted them more positively.
Participants also took longer to respond to neutral and happy faces, indicating increased difficulty distinguishing between similar emotional signals.
Brain imaging showed that stimulation reduced communication between the amygdala and other brain regions and altered its internal chemical balance.
Importantly, the effects were specific: learning from feedback was unchanged, and stimulating a different brain region produced different behavioural effects.
How the research was done
The team used a cutting-edge technique called transcranial focused ultrasound stimulation (TUS), which allows scientists to safely and precisely influence activity in deep brain regions without surgery.
Healthy volunteers received brief ultrasound stimulation targeting the amygdala before completing a behavioural task involving emotional facial expressions and decision-making. High-resolution brain scans were used to confirm that the stimulation had the intended biological effects.
The researchers measured these changes in multiple ways: they showed changes in important brain metabolites (GABA), and in the region’s functional connectivity, which indicates how it speaks to other parts of the brain. But they also showed changes in how people perceive ambiguous emotional expressions in faces.
Professor Klein-Flügge added: ‘This is a paper that we believe will shift and propel the field – the amygdala is a core region changed in mood disorders, including depression and anxiety, and while we applied ultrasound in healthy participants in this first study, an obvious next step is to see if abnormal amygdala metabolism can be restored in patients. There are still very few places worldwide that can do this type of research.
‘By showing that we can safely and precisely influence deep brain regions, this opens up exciting possibilities for future research and, potentially, new treatments. The next step is to see how these mechanisms operate in people with mood disorders.’
The researchers hope to apply this approach in clinical populations to better understand and potentially treat conditions such as depression, where emotional interpretation is often altered.
The paper, ‘Low-intensity focused ultrasound to human amygdala reveals a causal role in ambiguous emotion processing and alters local and network activity’, is published in Neuron.
The daughter of former footballer David and ex Spice Girl Victoria lives with her family in Oxfordshire.
She had been working on a skincare line inspired by Korean beauty, initially branded HIKU by Harper and aimed at Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers.
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However, according to cosmetics industry reports and US filings, the US Patent and Trademark Office refused her first application in July “because of a likelihood of confusion” with existing trademarks already registered in the country.
Documents cited by cosmeticsbusiness.com show that “Hiku” is already protected for personal care products and fragrances, while “Harper” appears on the register for cleaning products such as brooms and scrubbing brushes – blocking the path for “HIKU by Harper” in those categories.
Coverage of the setback notes that Harper had six months to respond to the provisional refusal if she wants to challenge the decision or narrow the scope of the American filing.
READ MORE: Brooklyn Beckham feud costs Harper ‘dream’ Sephora launch
Yet, now, she is pursuing a new brand, this time focused around make-up and called Harlo by Harper.
According to The Sun, the teenager has lodged papers with the US Patent and Trademark Office asking to be granted sole rights to use the name and with the UK’s Intellectual Property Office to trademark the brand.
The aim is to launch the brand at some point next year, as the only daughter of the Beckhams seeks to build a beauty empire.
A source for the paper added that Victoria has been “guiding her every step of the way”.
Contemporary clothing label Vuori has launched a store at Bicester Village this week, its first store outside of London.
To mark the opening of the store, Bicester Village welcomed guests to an exclusive Pilates session before the shops even opened their doors.
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Headquartered in San Diego and founded more than a decade ago, the brand has built a reputation for premium, performance-led leisurewear.
The new Bicester Village store will offer a carefully curated selection of bestsellers, including its Halo pants, the Vuori All The Feels collection and pieces from its popular Tom Holland golf collaboration.
Alongside those ranges, prices will be exclusive to the outlet, making it Vuori’s first UK discount boutique location and offering shoppers in Oxfordshire a chance to snap up the brand’s signature styles at lower prices than in its standard stores.
The Deep Purple star was once the owner of The Springs Resort & Golf Club in North Stoke near Wallingford – now part of the Talacre-based Darwin Escapes portfolio
The rock singer’s guitar-shaped swimming pool is no more, but resort manager Ben Scholes said in 2024 renovations and new facilities – including the 1893 spa and Ridgeway Restaurant – have proved incredibly popular with visitors from across the UK and beyond.
READ MORE: Rock legend open to AI in music
Ian Gillan has other strong Oxfordshire connections – one night early in 1983 a meeting at a different hotel in the county led to him joining heavy rock contemporaries Black Sabbath.
He told Mojo magazine’s Hello Goodbye column that he joined Black Sabbath after getting a call from Tony Iommi suggesting a drink somewhere between Birmingham and Reading.
Ian Gillan said: “We decided upon The Bear at Woodstock. I was driving an orange two-litre Fiat Mirafiori, which got rear-ended by a guy who was chasing me and didn’t see me stop at a junction.
“I pulled up outside The Bear with a wreck of a car.
“I can’t remember anything else until the next day when I had a call from my manager Phil Banfield.
“He said something along the lines of ‘Ian if you are going to be making major career decisions you should be talking to me first’.
“Apparently we had a few drinks and they (Black Sabbath) offered me the gig and I, who had nothing else on at the time, agreed.”
Ian Gillan told Mojo Black Sabbath then went straight to the Manor Studio in Shipton-on-Cherwell to record the Born Again album.
The singer added that during the recording sessions he was camping in the grounds in a small tent.
“I like camping and cooking my breakfast over an open fire. After breakfast I would go into the studio to hear what they had put down and then start work on the lyrics,” he told the magazine.
The singer left Black Sabbath after about a year, as it was agreed he should make one album and tour for a year.
He added: “I was incompatible, our backgrounds were chalk and cheese, musically and geographically.”
Ian Gillan rejoined Deep Purple in 1984 and remains a member of the band.
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