What was the dependent variable measured in the Canli study?

In the Canli study, the dependent variable measured was amygdala activation. This research aimed to investigate the relationship between emotional responses and neural activity, particularly focusing on how emotionally salient stimuli trigger responses in the amygdala. By using fMRI technology, the researchers were able to observe and measure the level of activation in the amygdala when participants viewed emotionally charged images. This was critical to the study's goal of understanding how the brain processes emotional information.

Other aspects, such as emotional response or the age of participants, played roles in the study's design, but they did not serve as the dependent variable being measured through the imaging techniques employed. Observations of behavior post-experiment could provide insight into participant reactions but were not quantified as a central focus of the study’s findings regarding neural activation.