The current study examined the relationship of LR to activity in these affect-related brain areas during an emotion face processing task. Based on prior fMRI results using two cognitive tasks, we hypothesized that low LR subjects will demonstrate higher BOLD response contrast with placebo and lower values after alcohol, while the high LR individuals will show the opposite pattern. This may reflect a general pattern in low LR subjects of how they process information that also extends to emotional-based tasks, even after controlling for alcohol effects on CBF [37]. We also predicted that this low LR/high LR pattern would be seen in one or more brain regions related to recognition and processing of emotional faces, including those implicated in primary emotion processing (e.g., amygdala and insula) and in top-down control of emotional processing (e.g., anterior and perigenual cingulate and medial prefrontal cortex). Support for these predictions would provide evidence that a person’s LR status may be an important correlate not only of how they process cognitive information but also for the manner in which they process emotional stimuli.
