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Emotional Brain
09 October 2016

Emotional Brain

Most of us experience a range of emotions as we go about our daily lives, from happiness and contentment to fear and anger. Music and films also manipulate our emotions, from the joyous rush of a dance track to a weepy movie. But people also experience emotions when their minds are just aimlessly drifting, and scientists are now able to spy on these feelings using a brain-scanning technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Researchers have found that different emotions evoke distinct patterns of activity in the brain, highlighted in these images. Contentment is shown in red (top left), amusement is yellow (bottom left), fear is teal (top middle), surprise is green (bottom middle), anger is blue (top right) and sadness is dark blue (bottom right). This kind of research could help to reveal the feelings of people with conditions that mean they struggle to understand or communicate their emotions.

Written by Kat Arney

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BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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