Original language versus dubbed movies: Effects on our brain and emotions

• Published in: Brain and language 2024-06, Vol.253, p.105424-105424, Article 105424
• Main Authors: Bellini, Camilla, Del Maschio, Nicola, Gentile, Marco, Del Mauro, Gianpaolo, Franceschini, Rita, Abutalebi, Jubin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bilingualism; Emotion; fMRI; Language; Movies; Naturalistic viewing paradigm
• ISSN: 0093-934X; 1090-2155
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2024.105424

•Bilinguals’ emotional processing was explored with a naturalistic viewing paradigm.•Emotional movies in the first language strongly activated conceptual knowledge.•Fun movies in the first language elicited deeper emotional experiences.•Higher proficiency in the second language enhanced emotional reactions to fun movies. Converging evidence suggests that emotions are often dulled in one’s foreign language. Here, we paired fMRI with a naturalistic viewing paradigm (i.e., original vs. dubbed versions of sad, fun and neutral movie clips) to investigate the neural correlates of emotion perception as a function of native (L1) and foreign (L2) language context. Watching emotional clips in L1 (vs. L2) reflected in activations of anterior temporal cortices involved in semantic cognition, arguably indicating a closer association of emotion concepts with the native language. The processing of fun clips in L1 (vs. L2) reflected in enhanced response of the right amygdala, suggesting a deeper emotional experience of positively valenced stimuli in the L1. Of interest, the amygdala response to fun clips positively correlated with participants’ proficiency in the L2, indicating that a higher L2 competence may reduce emotional processing differences across a bilingual’s two languages. Our findings are compatible with the view that language provides a context for the construction of emotions.