Hemispheric lateralization of Heschl’s gyrus and amygdala subdivisions are involved in differentiating happy and sad acoustic emotion

Abstract

Emotion is known to activate different areas of the cortex; nevertheless, how activation represents the variety of emotion is unknown. We asked whether functional activation in Heschls gyrus and amygdala subdivisions could differentiate happy and sad acoustic stimuli. A sparse sampling fMRI paradigm assessing hemispheric laterality by subdivision was employed to investigate this question. Differences between left Heschls gyrus subdivisions Te1.1 and Te1.0 compared to Te1.2 were significant for sad acoustic stimuli and right Heschls gyrus subdivisions Te1.0 different than Te1.1 and Te1.2 for sad acoustic stimuli, with no subdivision specificity for happy greater than sad. A prominent right greater than left difference was notable for centromedial, laterobasal, and superficial amygdala subdivisions for sad, while happy was more bilaterally activated. Activation and deactivation profiles of Heschls gyrus and amygdala subdivisions added to the explanation of left/right asymmetry by emotion with activation profiles significant for Heschls gyrus and amygdala response to sad.