Convergence of Emotion Processing on the Right Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex: Parametric Mediation Analysis of FMRI

Ikuhiro Kida¹, Yoshinobu Iguchi¹, Yoko Hoshi¹

We employed parametric mediation analysis to identify the functional circuits mediating emotion response. Unpleasant pictures induced activity in sub-cortical regions, including the amygdala, as well as in cortical regions, particularly the right inferior frontal gyrus. Parametric mediation analysis of fMRI signals in the activated region revealed that, although the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), BA47, contained no mediators for valence, the region was a mediator for all other predictors. These results suggest that the right VLPFC plays a key role in emotion generation and cognition through the convergence of emotion processing on this region from other cortical and sub-cortical regions.