Journal
NEUROREPORT
Volume 12, Issue 12, Pages 2779-2783Publisher
LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS
DOI: 10.1097/00001756-200108280-00036
Keywords
affect; amygdala; arousal; emotion; fMRI; valence
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Funding
- NCRR NIH HHS [M01 RR00058] Funding Source: Medline
- NIDA NIH HHS [DA09465] Funding Source: Medline
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Human lesion and functional imaging data suggest a central role for the amygdala in the processing of negative stimuli. To determine whether the amygdala's role in affective processing extends beyond negative stimuli, subjects viewed pictures that varied in emotional content (positive Ys negative valence) and arousal level (high vs low) while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging. Amygdala activation, relative to a low arousal and neutral valence picture baseline, was significantly increased for both positively and negatively valenced stimuli and did not differ for the two valences. There were no laterality effects. Whereas arousal level appeared to modulate the amygdala response for negative stimuli, all positively valenced pictures (both high and low in arousal) produced significant amygdala responses. These results clearly demonstrate a role for the amygdala in processing emotional stimuli that extends beyond negative and fearful stimuli. NeuroReport 12:2779-2783 (C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
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