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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 28, 2025

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotion Regulation

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Published on: August 26, 2011

Left Amygdala Regulates the Cerebral Reading Network During Fast Emotion Word Processing.

Kimihiro Nakamura^1,2, Tomoe Inomata², Akira Uno²

¹Section of Systems Neuroscience, National Rehabilitation Center Research Institute, Tokorozawa, Japan.

Frontiers in Psychology

|February 11, 2020

Summary

Emotion words rapidly activate the brain

Keywords:

affective priming amygdala emotion words functional connectivity reading repetition suppression and enhancement

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Correlating Behavioral Responses to fMRI Signals from Human Prefrontal Cortex: Examining Cognitive Processes Using Task Analysis

Published on: June 20, 2012

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Psychology
Psycholinguistics

Background:

Emotion words uniquely engage the limbic system, potentially bypassing standard language processing.
This rapid activation may involve amygdala-based circuits, similar to those for fearful face recognition.
Understanding the interaction between emotion word processing and reading networks is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the interaction between the left and right amygdala systems and the reading network during emotion word processing.
To determine how affective congruency influences neural responses and functional connectivity.
To explore the role of each amygdala in processing emotion words.

Main Methods:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with a hemifield priming paradigm.
Participants viewed masked primes (negative or positive nouns) followed by targets, assessing affective congruency.
Analysis focused on neural priming and functional connectivity between amygdala and reading network regions.

Main Results:

Affective congruency modulated neural priming in frontal, parietotemporal, and bilateral amygdala regions.
The left amygdala showed significant changes in functional connectivity with reading network components.
The right amygdala did not exhibit similar changes in functional connectivity.

Conclusions:

Emotion words activate both left and right amygdala early in processing.
The left amygdala uniquely influences the reading network through strong within-hemisphere connectivity.
This suggests a specialized role for the left amygdala in regulating emotion word comprehension.