Abstract
Messages in interpersonal communications influence the mental process of a receiver. The receiver's reactions to different message contents were examined by the brain function analysis using functional MRI. Ten right-handed healthy participants were scanned while listening to vocal expressions of praise or criticism from headphone, while at the same time playing a 2D-shooting video game. As results, the prefrontal region was activated more when players were listening to praise or criticism than when not listening to them. Moreover, for the auditory region, criticism related to broader activation than praise. On the other hand, praise elicited more activation than the criticism in the premotor cortex.
