NEUROANATOMICAL CORRELATES OF HAPPINESS, SADNESS, AND DISGUST

Objective: Happiness, sadness, and disgust are three emotions that dif fer in their valence (positive or negative) and associated action tend encies (approach or withdrawal). This study was designed to investigat e the neuroanatomical correlates of these discrete emotions. Method: T welve healthy female subjects were studied. Positron emission tomograp hy and [O-15]H2O were used to measure regional blain activity. There w ere 12 conditions per subject: happiness, sadness, and disgust and thr ee control conditions, each induced by film and recall. Emotion and co ntrol tasks were alternated throughout. Condition order was pseudorand omized and counterbalanced across subjects. Analyses focused on brain activity pastel ns for each emotion when combining film and recall dat a. Results: Happiness, sadness, and disgust were each associated with increases in activity in the thalamus and menial prefrontal cortex (Br odmann's area 9). These three emotions were also associated with activ ation of anterior and posterior temporal structures, primarily when in duced by film. Recalled sadness was associated with increased activati on in the anterior insula. Happiness was distinguished from sadness by greater activity in the vicinity of ventral mesial frontal cortex. Co nclusions: While this study should be considered preliminary, it ident ifies regions of the brain that participate in happiness, sadness, and disgust, regions that distinguish between positive and negative emoti ons, and regions that depend on both the elicitor and valence of emoti on or their interaction.