Ecstasy and Agony: Activation of the Human Amygdala in Positive and Negative Emotion

Considerable evidence indicates that the amygdala plays a critical role in negative, aversive human emotions. Although researchers have speculated that the amygdala plays a role in positive emotion, little relevant evidence exists. We examined the neural correlates of positive and negative emotion u...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPsychological science Vol. 13; no. 2; pp. 135 - 141
Main Authors Hamann, Stephan B., Ely, Timothy D., Hoffman, John M., Kilts, Clinton D.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA Blackwell Publishing 01.03.2002
SAGE Publications
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Adult
Amygdala
Amygdala - diagnostic imaging
Amygdala - physiology
Arousal - physiology
Attention - physiology
Brain Mapping
Dominance, Cerebral - physiology
Emotion
Emotional expression
Emotional states
Emotions
Emotions - physiology
Experiments
Feelings
Heart Rate - physiology
Humans
Male
Memory
Mental stimulation
Neuroimaging
Neurology
Pattern Recognition, Visual - physiology
Photographic negatives
Physiological stimulation
Positron emission tomography
Prefrontal Cortex - physiology
Psychology
Stimuli
Tomography
Tomography, Emission-Computed
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Summary:Considerable evidence indicates that the amygdala plays a critical role in negative, aversive human emotions. Although researchers have speculated that the amygdala plays a role in positive emotion, little relevant evidence exists. We examined the neural correlates of positive and negative emotion using positron emission tomography (PET), focusing on the amygdala. Participants viewed positive and negative photographs, as well as interesting and uninteresting neutral photographs, during PET scanning. The left amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex were activated during positive emotion, and bilateral amygdala activation occurred during negative emotion. High-interest, unusual photographs also elicited left amygdala activation, a finding consistent with suggestions that the amygdala is involved in vigilance reactions to associatively ambiguous stimuli. The current results constitute the first neuroimaging evidence for a role of the amygdala in positive emotional reactions elicited by visual stimuli. Although the amygdala appears to play a more extensive role in negative emotion, it is involved in positive emotion as well.
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ISSN:0956-7976
1467-9280
DOI:10.1111/1467-9280.00425