Westen and His Colleagues Used FMRI to Examine the Activation

Multiple Choice

Westen and his colleagues used fMRI to examine the activation of brain areas of committed Democrats and Republicans when confronted with statements by their favored candidates that were inconsistent with their party's positions. The researchers found that participants used motivated reasoning as a strategy to regulate emotion, maximizing positive affect and minimizing negative affect. The study also showed the brain experienced:

A) no increase in activation of the amygdala.
B) no changes in the cingulate cortex, an area often activated when a person confronts a discrepancy.
C) activation in the amygdala in the first half of the study and also in the prefrontal cortex and cingulate cortex.
D) activation throughout the prefrontal region of the cortex.