title: The role of language in the experience and perception of emotion: a neuroimaging meta-analysis.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, New York University.
authors.forename: Jeffrey A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Brooks
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
authors.forename: Holly
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shablack
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Northeastern University.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gendron
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Pomona College.
authors.forename: Ajay B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Satpute
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles.
authors.forename: Michael H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Parrish
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.|Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
authors.forename: Kristen A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Lindquist
mesh_terms: D000679:Amygdala / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D003210:Concept Formation / Q000502:physiology; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D059906:Neuroimaging; D020534:Parahippocampal Gyrus / Q000502:physiology; D012660:Semantics; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: concepts; emotion; language; meta-analysis