Scientists uncover how the brain resolves emotional ambiguity

Scientists at the University of Oxford have demonstrated, for the first time, that a key emotional center deep in the human brain directly influences how we interpret ambiguous social cues. In a new study, published in Neuron, researchers used low-intensity focused ultrasound to temporarily and non-invasively alter activity in the amygdala—a region known to be involved in emotion and affected in depression. They found that this changed how people responded to facial expressions, particularly when those expressions were emotionally unclear.