Fig. 3.

Mediation analyses results. Path diagram showing the relationships between severity of depression, verbal fluency, education and the hemodynamic response in the path model. The predictor region in severity of depression (geriatric depression ratings) is shown at left, which also predicts verbal fluency and years of education (a1 and a2 paths), respectively. The lines are labeled with path coefficients, and standard errors are shown in parentheses. The mediator factors (verbal fluency and years of education) connections to the left MFG activation in response to emotional words are the b1 and b2 paths. They are calculated controlling for severity of depression and for the mediator factor, as is standard in mediation models. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, two-tailed.