Masked Presentations of Emotional Facial Expressions Modulate Amygdala Activity without Explicit Knowledge

• Published in: The Journal of neuroscience Vol. 18; no. 1; pp. 411 - 418
• Main Authors: Whalen, Paul J, Rauch, Scott L, Etcoff, Nancy L, McInerney, Sean C, Lee, Michael B, Jenike, Michael A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Soc Neuroscience 01.01.1998; Society for Neuroscience
• Subjects: Adult; Amygdala - physiology; Awareness - physiology; Facial Expression; Fear - physiology; Functional Laterality - physiology; Happiness; Heart Rate; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Substantia Innominata - physiology

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the human brain was used to study whether the amygdala is activated in response to emotional stimuli, even in the absence of explicit knowledge that such stimuli were presented. Pictures of human faces bearing fearful or happy expressions were presente...