Does Language Do More Than Communicate Emotion?

Language can certainly communicate emotions, but growing research suggests that language also helps constitute emotion by cohering sensations into specific perceptions of “anger,” “disgust,” “fear,” etc. The powerful role of language in emotion is predicted by a constructionist approach, which suggests that emotions occur when sensations are categorized using emotion category knowledge supported by language. We discuss the accumulating evidence from social cognitive, neuropsychological, cross-cultural, and neuroimaging studies that emotion words go beyond communication to help constitute emotional perceptions, and perhaps even emotional experiences. We look forward to current directions in research on emotional intelligence, emotion regulation, and psychotherapy

The Brain Basis of Positive and Negative Affect: Evidence from a Meta-Analysis of the Human Neuroimaging Literature

The ability to experience pleasant or unpleasant feelings or to represent objects as “positive” or “negative” is known as representing hedonic “valence.” Although scientists overwhelmingly agree that valence is a basic psychological phenomenon, debate continues about how to best conceptualize it scientifically. We used a meta-analysis of 397 functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography studies (containing 914 experimental contrasts and 6827 participants) to test 3 competing hypotheses about the brain basis of valence: the bipolarity hypothesis that positive and negative affect are supported by a brain system that monotonically increases and/or decreases along the valence dimension, the bivalent hypothesis that positive and negative affect are supported by independent brain systems, and the affective workspace hypothesis that positive and negative affect are supported by a flexible set of valence-general regions. We found little evidence for the bipolar or bivalent hypotheses. Findings instead supported the hypothesis that, at the level of brain activity measurable by fMRI, valence is flexibly implemented across instances by a set of valence-general limbic and paralimbic brain regions

The role of language in the experience and perception of emotion: a neuroimaging meta-analysis

Recent behavioral and neuroimaging studies demonstrate that labeling one’s emotional experiences and perceptions alters those states. Here, we used a comprehensive meta-analysis of the neuroimaging literature to systematically explore whether the presence of emotion words in experimental tasks has an impact on the neural representation of emotional experiences and perceptions across studies. Using a database of 386 studies, we assessed brain activity when emotion words (e.g. ‘anger’, ‘disgust’) and more general affect words (e.g. ‘pleasant’, ‘unpleasant’) were present in experimental tasks vs not present. As predicted, when emotion words were present, we observed more frequent activations in regions related to semantic processing. When emotion words were not present, we observed more frequent activations in the amygdala and parahippocampal gyrus, bilaterally. The presence of affect words did not have the same effect on the neural representation of emotional experiences and perceptions, suggesting that our observed effects are specific to emotion words. These findings are consistent with the psychological constructionist prediction that in the absence of accessible emotion concepts, the meaning of affective experiences and perceptions are ambiguous. Findings are also consistent with the regulatory role of ‘affect labeling’. Implications of the role of language in emotion construction and regulation are discussed

PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Research Article The Sunny Side of Fairness Preference for Fairness Activates Reward Circuitry (and Disregarding Unfairness Activates Self-Control Circuitry)

ABSTRACT—Little is known about the positive emotional impact of fairness or the process of resolving conflict between fairness and financial interests. In past research, fairness has covaried with monetary payoff, such that the mental processes underlying preference for fairness and those underlying preference for greater monetary outcome could not be distinguished. We examined self-reported happiness and neural responses to fair and unfair offers while controlling for monetary payoff. Compared with unfair offers of equal monetary value, fair offers led to higher happiness ratings and activation in several reward regions of the brain. Furthermore, the tendency to accept unfair proposals was associated with increased activity in right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, a region involved in emotion regulation, and with decreased activity in the anterior insula, which has been implicated in negative affect. This work provides evidence that fairness is hedonically valued and that tolerating unfair treatment for material gain involves a pattern of activation resembling suppression of negative affect. Anyone who has watched children negotiate how to share a piece of cake knows that humans are exquisitely sensitive to fairness. Although economic models of decision making have traditionally assumed that individuals are motivated solely by material utility (e.g., financial payouts) and are not directly affected by social factors such as fairness (Camerer, Loewenstein, & Prelec, 2005; Kahneman, Knetsch, & Thaler, 1986), there is increasing empirical evidence that fairness does play a role in economic decision making (Fehr & Schmidt, 1999; Sears & Funk, 1991). Fairness in economic-exchange tasks is typically defined as the equitable distribution of an initial stake of money between two people. Because fair outcomes tend to be more materiall

Ultra High Field fMRI of Human Superior Colliculi Activity during Affective Visual Processing

Research on rodents and non-human primates has established the involvement of the superior colliculus in defensive behaviours and visual threat detection. The superior colliculus has been well-studied in humans for its functional roles in saccade and visual processing, but less is known about its involvement in affect. In standard functional MRI studies of the human superior colliculus, it is challenging to discern activity in the superior colliculus from activity in surrounding nuclei such as the periaqueductal gray due to technological and methodological limitations. Employing high-field strength (7 Tesla) fMRI techniques, this study imaged the superior colliculus at high (0.75 mm isotropic) resolution, which enabled isolation of the superior colliculus from other brainstem nuclei. Superior colliculus activation during emotionally aversive image viewing blocks was greater than that during neutral image viewing blocks. These findings suggest that the superior colliculus may play a role in shaping subjective emotional experiences in addition to its visuomotor functions, bridging the gap between affective research on humans and non-human animals

Contextual connectivity: A framework for understanding the intrinsic dynamic architecture of large-scale functional brain networks

Investigations of the human brain's connectomic architecture have produced two alternative models: one describes the brain's spatial structure in terms of static localized networks, and the other describes the brain's temporal structure in terms of dynamic whole-brain states. Here, we used tools from connectivity dynamics to develop a synthesis that bridges these models. Using resting fMRI data, we investigated the assumptions undergirding current models of the human connectome. Consistent with state-based models, our results suggest that static localized networks are superordinate approximations of underlying dynamic states. Furthermore, each of these localized, dynamic connectivity states is associated with global changes in the whole-brain functional connectome. By nesting localized dynamic connectivity states within their whole-brain contexts, we demonstrate the relative temporal independence of brain networks. Our assay for functional autonomy of coordinated neural systems is broadly applicable, and our findings provide evidence of structure in temporal state dynamics that complements the well-described static spatial organization of the brain

Contextual connectivity: A framework for understanding the intrinsic dynamic architecture of large-scale functional brain networks

ABSTRACT Investigations of the human brain’s connectomic architecture have produced two alternative models: one describes the brain’s spatial structure in terms of localized networks, and the other describes the brain’s temporal structure in terms of whole-brain states. Here, we used tools from connectivity dynamics to develop a synthesis that bridges these models. Using task-free fMRI data, we investigated the assumptions undergirding current models of the connectome. Consistent with state-based models, our results suggest that localized networks are superordinate approximations of underlying dynamic states. Furthermore, each of these localized, moment-to-moment connectivity states is associated with global changes in the whole-brain functional connectome. By nesting localized connectivity states within their whole-brain contexts, we demonstrate the relative temporal independence of brain networks. Our assay for functional autonomy of coordinated neural systems is broadly applicable across populations, and our findings provide evidence of structure in temporal dynamics that complements the well-described spatial organization of the brain