Fig. 3.
Results of the contrast examining where brain activity responses are significantly greater for emotionally arousing pictures compared with neutral nonarousing pictures. (A) The maximum intensity projection results are shown in a sagittal view that is displayed at a threshold of P < 0.001, with a 20-voxel extent. This displays the three-dimensional results occurring across the whole brain as seen when looking through the brain from a side view. The outline of the brain is shown in light color. The significant regional effects are shown as the dark areas within this brain outline. (B) When the results shown in figure 3A are projected onto a single parasagittal cross-section of the group mean anatomical image, it is evident that emotionally arousing pictures (compared with neutral pictures) significantly activate the amygdala. (C) When the results shown in figure 3A are projected onto a midsagittal cross-section, then activation of the anterior cingulate region just above the corpus collosum can be seen. Also evident in this slice is activation of thalamic and brainstem areas. (D) The same results as in figure 3A are now shown in the axial plane, as if looking through the brain from the top down. (E) When the results shown in figure 3D are projected onto the group mean anatomical image sliced in the axial plane, the amygdala activation can clearly be seen as bilateral. Other brainstem areas of activation can also be seen. (F) The anterior cingulate activation is shown in the axial plane.