The research program elaborates upon a PET study recently conducted in Arizona by Dr. Lane and colleagues in which happiness, sadness and disgust were successfully induced in normal women in the PET laboratory. Subjects were carefully selected to maximize the likelihood that they would have intense experiences and could describe their experiences accurately. The analysis of cerebral blood flow (BF) data, a marker of local neuronal activity, is currently being completed. To prepare for the two major PET studies supported by this grant, three psychometric studies will aim to enhance the effectiveness of the film and imagery stimuli for unselected subjects in a manner specifically suited for PET utilizing the radiotracer 15O-water. A psychophysiological study (N=200) will then determine whether the variance in the autonomic response to emotion-evoking stimuli explained by self-report varies as a function of individual differences in the style of emotion self-regulation. Two PET studies involving absolute quantitation of BF using the radiotracer 15O- water will then follow (Total N=40). The goals of these two studies are to identify the functional neuroanatomy of happiness, sadness, disgust, anger and fear in normal women and to determine whether sex differences exist in BF patterns during anger, fear and happiness. Another goal is to compare two groups differing in their style of emotion self-regulation if supported by the psychophysiological data, or to compare that of right and left- handers if not.
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