New PNAS study from our group reveals how language dominance shapes emotion regulation 

The study, entitled Affect labeling down-regulates amygdala only in a dominant native language, investigates how the language we use can influence the way our brain regulates emotions.

Using functional and structural MRI data from 151 Spanish–English and Spanish–Catalan bilinguals, the study shows that putting emotions into words (affect labeling) reduces amygdala activity when emotions are labeled in a clearly dominant native language. In contrast, this effect was not observed when participants used a less dominant second language or, surprisingly, in either language among balanced bilinguals.

The findings further show that language dominance and language use shape amygdala–ventrolateral prefrontal cortex connectivity, as well as the involvement of white-matter pathways supporting emotion regulation. Together, these results provide new insights into the interaction between language, bilingualism, and emotion regulation, suggesting that the language we use to put our feelings into words can influence how effectively the brain regulates emotional responses.