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Abstract #1112

Does the task make a difference? Comparison of active and passive processing of emotional words with functional neuroimaging

Wokrina T, Ende G, Demirakca T, Ruf M
Central Institute of Mental Health

The influence of the task on neuronal activation concerning emotional processing is not known so far. We compared an active processing task with a passive reading task. Passive processing of negative adjectives yielded stronger activation in left inferior frontal gyrus, left superior frontal gyrus and the left inferior parietal lobe. Active processing leads to an elevated BOLD response in the anterior cingulate cortex and the medial frontal gyrus. However, no significant differences between the two tasks in terms of emotional processing could be found. Activation differences for lexical processing in the precuneus and parietal regions may be a consequence of the elevated attention in the active task.