How Your Mood Affects the Way You Process Language

Feb. 7, 2023
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Caucasian female with glasses serious-faced and reading an open book in front of grey background

Vicky Lai, a UArizona assistant professor of psychology and cognitive science, worked with collaborators in the Netherlands to explore how people's brains react to language when they are in a happy mood versus a negative mood.

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Lai Headshot

"Mood and language seem to be supported by different brain networks. But we have one brain, and the two are processed in the same brain, so there is a lot of interaction going on," Lai said. "We show that when people are in a negative mood, they are more careful and analytical. They scrutinize what's actually stated in a text, and they don't just fall back on their default world knowledge."

To read about how the study was conducted and to see more of the findings from the research, see the full article from UA News.

Updated 02/07/23