Wei Chen, Jeff Tenney, Praveen Kulkarni and Jean A. King
NeuorImage, in press
Recent use of manganese-enhanced MRI (MEMRI) to assess the neural circuitry involved in autonomic and somatosensory paradigms has been promising. The current study addresses the feasibility of utilizing this technique to assess more complex cognitive and emotional processes. Since olfactory cues are particularly salient to animals, we utilized odorless air, novel/arousing and novel/fear-inducing scents to assess the neural circuitry sub-serving novelty and unconditioned fear. The present imaging data clearly indicate that animals with no prior exposure to a threat-inducing emotional stimulus selectively activated the unconditional fear neuronal pathway, specifically with heightened amygdala and hypothalamic activation. While animals exposed to the novel/arousing compared to fear-inducing odor demonstrated enhanced uptake in the cingulated and prefrontal cortices. In addition, as expected the hippocampus showed significantly enhanced manganese contrast after novelty exposure. Therefore the current study support the validity of MEMRI in the exploration of highly relevant complex neural circuitries associated with cognition and emotion.
Friday, June 22, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - Valence-specific regulation effects in a working memory task with emotional context
Susanne Erk, Anna Kleczar and Henrik Walter
NeuroImage, in press
The modulatory effects of emotional context on episodic memory have been shown recently. We were interested whether working memory is similarly susceptible to emotional context or whether working memory helps to distract from emotion, i.e. serves to downregulate emotional reactions in order to sustain the prior intention. We tested the effects of emotional stimulation during active maintenance of information by modulating the emotional context of maintenance processes in a Sternberg item recognition task with two load conditions. Behavioral data revealed no impairment of working memory performance during emotional context. Actually, behavioral performance was better for emotional compared to neutral context during high load. Furthermore, emotional context had no interference effect on working memory-related brain activation. Instead, we found a valence-specific regulation effect: High cognitive effort was associated with reduced activity in emotion processing regions, i.e. the amygdala and ventral striatum. This effect was mediated by different prefrontal regions, i.e. by left inferior PFC for negative and left superior PFC for positive valence. Furthermore, our results reveal an integration effect of emotion and cognition in right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex showing increased recruitment with increasing complexity of the task. The results presented here are of relevance for the understanding of regulatory mechanisms and diseases characterized by increased susceptibility to emotional distraction.
NeuroImage, in press
The modulatory effects of emotional context on episodic memory have been shown recently. We were interested whether working memory is similarly susceptible to emotional context or whether working memory helps to distract from emotion, i.e. serves to downregulate emotional reactions in order to sustain the prior intention. We tested the effects of emotional stimulation during active maintenance of information by modulating the emotional context of maintenance processes in a Sternberg item recognition task with two load conditions. Behavioral data revealed no impairment of working memory performance during emotional context. Actually, behavioral performance was better for emotional compared to neutral context during high load. Furthermore, emotional context had no interference effect on working memory-related brain activation. Instead, we found a valence-specific regulation effect: High cognitive effort was associated with reduced activity in emotion processing regions, i.e. the amygdala and ventral striatum. This effect was mediated by different prefrontal regions, i.e. by left inferior PFC for negative and left superior PFC for positive valence. Furthermore, our results reveal an integration effect of emotion and cognition in right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex showing increased recruitment with increasing complexity of the task. The results presented here are of relevance for the understanding of regulatory mechanisms and diseases characterized by increased susceptibility to emotional distraction.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Hemodynamic brain correlates of disgust and fear ratings.
Rudolf Stark, Mark Zimmermann, Sabine Kagerer, Anne Schienle, Bertram Walter, Martin Weygandt and Dieter Vaitl
NeuroImage, in press
Inconsistent findings from several functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies on fear and disgust raise the question which brain regions are relatively specialized and which are general in the processing of these basic emotions. Some of these inconsistencies could partially be due to inter-individual differences in the experience of the applied emotional stimuli. In the present study, we therefore correlated the participants' individual online reports of fear and disgust with their hemodynamic responses towards each of the fear- and disgust-inducing scenes.
Sixty six participants (32 females) took part in the fMRI study. In an event-related design, they saw 50 pictures with different emotional impact (10 neutral, 20 disgust-inducing, 20 fear-inducing). Pictures were presented for 4 s and participants rated each picture online – just after the presentation – on the dimensions disgust and fear among others.
The results indicate that the processing of disgust- and fear-inducing pictures involves similar as well as distinct brain regions. Both emotional stimulus categories resulted in activations in the extended occipital cortex, in the prefrontal cortex, and in the amygdala. However, insula activations were only significantly correlated with subjective ratings of disgust, pointing to a specific role of this brain structure in the processing of disgust.
NeuroImage, in press
Inconsistent findings from several functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies on fear and disgust raise the question which brain regions are relatively specialized and which are general in the processing of these basic emotions. Some of these inconsistencies could partially be due to inter-individual differences in the experience of the applied emotional stimuli. In the present study, we therefore correlated the participants' individual online reports of fear and disgust with their hemodynamic responses towards each of the fear- and disgust-inducing scenes.
Sixty six participants (32 females) took part in the fMRI study. In an event-related design, they saw 50 pictures with different emotional impact (10 neutral, 20 disgust-inducing, 20 fear-inducing). Pictures were presented for 4 s and participants rated each picture online – just after the presentation – on the dimensions disgust and fear among others.
The results indicate that the processing of disgust- and fear-inducing pictures involves similar as well as distinct brain regions. Both emotional stimulus categories resulted in activations in the extended occipital cortex, in the prefrontal cortex, and in the amygdala. However, insula activations were only significantly correlated with subjective ratings of disgust, pointing to a specific role of this brain structure in the processing of disgust.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Modulation of Emotional Appraisal by False Physiological Feedback during fMRI.
Gray MA, Harrison NA, Wiens S, Critchley HD.
PLos ONE, online
BACKGROUND: James and Lange proposed that emotions are the perception of physiological reactions. Two-level theories of emotion extend this model to suggest that cognitive interpretations of physiological changes shape self-reported emotions. Correspondingly false physiological feedback of evoked or tonic bodily responses can alter emotional attributions. Moreover, anxiety states are proposed to arise from detection of mismatch between actual and anticipated states of physiological arousal. However, the neural underpinnings of these phenomena previously have not been examined. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We undertook a functional brain imaging (fMRI) experiment to investigate how both primary and second-order levels of physiological (viscerosensory) representation impact on the processing of external emotional cues. 12 participants were scanned while judging face stimuli during both exercise and non-exercise conditions in the context of true and false auditory feedback of tonic heart rate. We observed that the perceived emotional intensity/salience of neutral faces was enhanced by false feedback of increased heart rate. Regional changes in neural activity corresponding to this behavioural interaction were observed within included right anterior insula, bilateral mid insula, and amygdala. In addition, right anterior insula activity was enhanced during by asynchronous relative to synchronous cardiac feedback even with no change in perceived or actual heart rate suggesting this region serves as a comparator to detect physiological mismatches. Finally, BOLD activity within right anterior insula and amygdala predicted the corresponding changes in perceived intensity ratings at both a group and an individual level. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings identify the neural substrates supporting behavioural effects of false physiological feedback, and highlight mechanisms that underlie subjective anxiety states, including the importance of the right anterior insula in guiding second-order "cognitive" representations of bodily arousal state.
PLos ONE, online
BACKGROUND: James and Lange proposed that emotions are the perception of physiological reactions. Two-level theories of emotion extend this model to suggest that cognitive interpretations of physiological changes shape self-reported emotions. Correspondingly false physiological feedback of evoked or tonic bodily responses can alter emotional attributions. Moreover, anxiety states are proposed to arise from detection of mismatch between actual and anticipated states of physiological arousal. However, the neural underpinnings of these phenomena previously have not been examined. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We undertook a functional brain imaging (fMRI) experiment to investigate how both primary and second-order levels of physiological (viscerosensory) representation impact on the processing of external emotional cues. 12 participants were scanned while judging face stimuli during both exercise and non-exercise conditions in the context of true and false auditory feedback of tonic heart rate. We observed that the perceived emotional intensity/salience of neutral faces was enhanced by false feedback of increased heart rate. Regional changes in neural activity corresponding to this behavioural interaction were observed within included right anterior insula, bilateral mid insula, and amygdala. In addition, right anterior insula activity was enhanced during by asynchronous relative to synchronous cardiac feedback even with no change in perceived or actual heart rate suggesting this region serves as a comparator to detect physiological mismatches. Finally, BOLD activity within right anterior insula and amygdala predicted the corresponding changes in perceived intensity ratings at both a group and an individual level. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings identify the neural substrates supporting behavioural effects of false physiological feedback, and highlight mechanisms that underlie subjective anxiety states, including the importance of the right anterior insula in guiding second-order "cognitive" representations of bodily arousal state.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Inhibition Versus Switching Deficits in Different Forms of Rumination
Whitmer, Anson J.; Banich, Marie T.
Psychological Science, 18, 546-553.
Individuals who depressively ruminate about their current dysphoria tend to perseverate more than nonruminators. The goal of the current study was to determine whether such perseverative tendencies are associated with an inability to switch attention away from old to new information or with an inability to effectively inhibit the processing of previously relevant information. We used a task-switching paradigm that can distinguish between these two processes. Two experiments showed that depressive rumination is associated with a deficit in inhibiting prior mental sets. The second experiment also demonstrated that, in contrast to depressive rumination, angry and intellectual rumination are associated with difficulties in switching to a new task set, but not with inhibition of a prior task set. This study suggests that different forms of rumination are associated with different cognitive mechanisms and that both deficits may contribute to the perseveration that is associated with ruminative tendencies.
Psychological Science, 18, 546-553.
Individuals who depressively ruminate about their current dysphoria tend to perseverate more than nonruminators. The goal of the current study was to determine whether such perseverative tendencies are associated with an inability to switch attention away from old to new information or with an inability to effectively inhibit the processing of previously relevant information. We used a task-switching paradigm that can distinguish between these two processes. Two experiments showed that depressive rumination is associated with a deficit in inhibiting prior mental sets. The second experiment also demonstrated that, in contrast to depressive rumination, angry and intellectual rumination are associated with difficulties in switching to a new task set, but not with inhibition of a prior task set. This study suggests that different forms of rumination are associated with different cognitive mechanisms and that both deficits may contribute to the perseveration that is associated with ruminative tendencies.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Putting Feelings Into Words: Affect Labeling Disrupts Amygdala Activity in Response to Affective Stimuli
Lieberman, Matthew D.; Eisenberger, Naomi I.; Crockett, Molly J.; Tom, Sabrina M.; Pfeifer, Jennifer H.; Way, Baldwin M.
Psychological Science, 18, 421-428.
Putting feelings into words (affect labeling) has long been thought to help manage negative emotional experiences; however, the mechanisms by which affect labeling produces this benefit remain largely unknown. Recent neuroimaging studies suggest a possible neurocognitive pathway for this process, but methodological limitations of previous studies have prevented strong inferences from being drawn. A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of affect labeling was conducted to remedy these limitations. The results indicated that affect labeling, relative to other forms of encoding, diminished the response of the amygdala and other limbic regions to negative emotional images. Additionally, affect labeling produced increased activity in a single brain region, right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (RVLPFC). Finally, RVLPFC and amygdala activity during affect labeling were inversely correlated, a relationship that was mediated by activity in medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC). These results suggest that affect labeling may diminish emotional reactivity along a pathway from RVLPFC to MPFC to the amygdala.
Psychological Science, 18, 421-428.
Putting feelings into words (affect labeling) has long been thought to help manage negative emotional experiences; however, the mechanisms by which affect labeling produces this benefit remain largely unknown. Recent neuroimaging studies suggest a possible neurocognitive pathway for this process, but methodological limitations of previous studies have prevented strong inferences from being drawn. A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of affect labeling was conducted to remedy these limitations. The results indicated that affect labeling, relative to other forms of encoding, diminished the response of the amygdala and other limbic regions to negative emotional images. Additionally, affect labeling produced increased activity in a single brain region, right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (RVLPFC). Finally, RVLPFC and amygdala activity during affect labeling were inversely correlated, a relationship that was mediated by activity in medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC). These results suggest that affect labeling may diminish emotional reactivity along a pathway from RVLPFC to MPFC to the amygdala.
Friday, June 15, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - How the brain laughs Comparative evidence from behavioral, electrophysiological and neuroimaging studies in human and monkey.
Meyer M, Baumann S, Wildgruber D, Alter K.
Behavioural Brain Research, in press
Laughter is an affective nonspeech vocalization that is not reserved to humans, but can also be observed in other mammalians, in particular monkeys and great apes. This observation makes laughter an interesting subject for brain research as it allows us to learn more about parallels and differences of human and animal communication by studying the neural underpinnings of expressive and perceptive laughter. In the first part of this review we will briefly sketch the acoustic structure of a bout of laughter and relate this to the differential anatomy of the larynx and the vocal tract in human and monkey. The subsequent part of the article introduces the present knowledge on behavioral and brain mechanisms of "laughter-like responses" and other affective vocalizations in monkeys and apes, before we describe the scant evidence on the cerebral organization of laughter provided by neuroimaging studies. Our review indicates that a densely intertwined network of auditory and (pre-) motor functions subserves perceptive and expressive aspects of human laughter. Even though there is a tendency in the present literature to suggest a rightward asymmetry of the cortical representation of laughter, there is no doubt that left cortical areas are also involved. In addition, subcortical areas, namely the amygdala, have also been identified as part of this network. Furthermore, we can conclude from our overview that research on the brain mechanisms of affective vocalizations in monkeys and great apes report the recruitment of similar cortical and subcortical areas similar to those attributed to laughter in humans. Therefore, we propose the existence of equivalent brain representations of emotional tone in human and great apes. This reasoning receives support from neuroethological models that describe laughter as a primal behavioral tool used by individuals - be they human or ape - to prompt other individuals of a peer group and to create a mirthful context for social interaction and communication.
Behavioural Brain Research, in press
Laughter is an affective nonspeech vocalization that is not reserved to humans, but can also be observed in other mammalians, in particular monkeys and great apes. This observation makes laughter an interesting subject for brain research as it allows us to learn more about parallels and differences of human and animal communication by studying the neural underpinnings of expressive and perceptive laughter. In the first part of this review we will briefly sketch the acoustic structure of a bout of laughter and relate this to the differential anatomy of the larynx and the vocal tract in human and monkey. The subsequent part of the article introduces the present knowledge on behavioral and brain mechanisms of "laughter-like responses" and other affective vocalizations in monkeys and apes, before we describe the scant evidence on the cerebral organization of laughter provided by neuroimaging studies. Our review indicates that a densely intertwined network of auditory and (pre-) motor functions subserves perceptive and expressive aspects of human laughter. Even though there is a tendency in the present literature to suggest a rightward asymmetry of the cortical representation of laughter, there is no doubt that left cortical areas are also involved. In addition, subcortical areas, namely the amygdala, have also been identified as part of this network. Furthermore, we can conclude from our overview that research on the brain mechanisms of affective vocalizations in monkeys and great apes report the recruitment of similar cortical and subcortical areas similar to those attributed to laughter in humans. Therefore, we propose the existence of equivalent brain representations of emotional tone in human and great apes. This reasoning receives support from neuroethological models that describe laughter as a primal behavioral tool used by individuals - be they human or ape - to prompt other individuals of a peer group and to create a mirthful context for social interaction and communication.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Anger and fear: Separable effects of emotion and motivational direction on somatovisceral responses.
Stemmler G, Aue T, Wacker J.
International Journal of Psychophysiology, in press
We studied whether emotion (anger vs. fear) and motivational direction (approach vs. withdrawal) have specific, separable, and independent somatovisceral response patterns. Imagination scripts about soccer game episodes with crossed Emotion × Motivational Direction content resulting in four experimental groups were presented to a total of N = 118 active soccer players. Self-reports reflected the emotion but not the motivational direction induction. Univariate and multivariate analyses of 24 somatovisceral variables and 2 a priori defined summary variables showed that anger and fear had specific response profiles with effect sizes correlating r = 0.53 with the respective effect sizes from a previous study. Approach and withdrawal profiles varied only in intensity. Emotion and motivational direction did not interact and had independent somatovisceral effects. Results suggest that anger and fear have separate underlying neurobiological organizations each capable of bi-directional motivational tuning of efferent pathways. Results support the Component Model of Somatovisceral Response Organization.
International Journal of Psychophysiology, in press
We studied whether emotion (anger vs. fear) and motivational direction (approach vs. withdrawal) have specific, separable, and independent somatovisceral response patterns. Imagination scripts about soccer game episodes with crossed Emotion × Motivational Direction content resulting in four experimental groups were presented to a total of N = 118 active soccer players. Self-reports reflected the emotion but not the motivational direction induction. Univariate and multivariate analyses of 24 somatovisceral variables and 2 a priori defined summary variables showed that anger and fear had specific response profiles with effect sizes correlating r = 0.53 with the respective effect sizes from a previous study. Approach and withdrawal profiles varied only in intensity. Emotion and motivational direction did not interact and had independent somatovisceral effects. Results suggest that anger and fear have separate underlying neurobiological organizations each capable of bi-directional motivational tuning of efferent pathways. Results support the Component Model of Somatovisceral Response Organization.
ARTICLE UPDATE - The Emotion Recognition Task: a paradigm to measure the perception of facial emotional expressions at different intensities.
Montagne B, Kessels RP, De Haan EH, Perrett DI.
Perceptual & Motor Skills, 104, 589-598
The Emotion Recognition Task is a computer-generated paradigm for measuring the recognition of six basic facial emotional expressions: anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise. Video clips of increasing length were presented, starting with a neutral face that changes into a facial expression of different intensities (20%-100%). The present study describes methodological aspects of the paradigm and its applicability in healthy participants (N=58; 34 men; ages between 22 and 75), specifically focusing on differences in recognition performance between the six emotion types and age-related change. The results showed that happiness was the easiest emotion to recognize, while fear was the most difficult. Moreover, older adults performed worse than young adults on anger, sadness, fear, and happiness, but not on disgust and surprise. These findings indicate that this paradigm is probably more sensitive than emotion perception tasks using static images, suggesting it is a useful tool in the assessment of subtle impairments in emotion perception.
Perceptual & Motor Skills, 104, 589-598
The Emotion Recognition Task is a computer-generated paradigm for measuring the recognition of six basic facial emotional expressions: anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise. Video clips of increasing length were presented, starting with a neutral face that changes into a facial expression of different intensities (20%-100%). The present study describes methodological aspects of the paradigm and its applicability in healthy participants (N=58; 34 men; ages between 22 and 75), specifically focusing on differences in recognition performance between the six emotion types and age-related change. The results showed that happiness was the easiest emotion to recognize, while fear was the most difficult. Moreover, older adults performed worse than young adults on anger, sadness, fear, and happiness, but not on disgust and surprise. These findings indicate that this paradigm is probably more sensitive than emotion perception tasks using static images, suggesting it is a useful tool in the assessment of subtle impairments in emotion perception.
Monday, June 11, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - Neurocognitive mechanisms of anxiety: an integrative account
Sonia J. Bishop
Trends in Cognitive Science, in press
Anxiety can be hugely disruptive to everyday life. Anxious individuals show increased attentional capture by potential signs of danger, and interpret expressions, comments and events in a negative manner. These cognitive biases have been widely explored in human anxiety research. By contrast, animal models have focused upon the mechanisms underlying acquisition and extinction of conditioned fear, guiding exposure-based therapies for anxiety disorders. Recent neuroimaging studies of conditioned fear, attention to threat and interpretation of emotionally ambiguous stimuli indicate common amygdala–prefrontal circuitry underlying these processes, and suggest that the balance of activity within this circuitry is altered in anxiety, creating a bias towards threat-related responses. This provides a focus for future translational research, and targeted pharmacological and cognitive interventions.
Trends in Cognitive Science, in press
Anxiety can be hugely disruptive to everyday life. Anxious individuals show increased attentional capture by potential signs of danger, and interpret expressions, comments and events in a negative manner. These cognitive biases have been widely explored in human anxiety research. By contrast, animal models have focused upon the mechanisms underlying acquisition and extinction of conditioned fear, guiding exposure-based therapies for anxiety disorders. Recent neuroimaging studies of conditioned fear, attention to threat and interpretation of emotionally ambiguous stimuli indicate common amygdala–prefrontal circuitry underlying these processes, and suggest that the balance of activity within this circuitry is altered in anxiety, creating a bias towards threat-related responses. This provides a focus for future translational research, and targeted pharmacological and cognitive interventions.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Sensitivity of the brain to loss aversion during risky gambles
Dreher JC.
Trends in Cognitive Science, in press
Little is known about the neural systems that subserve human loss aversion. A recent neuroimaging study by Tom, Poldrack and colleagues reports that this pattern of behaviour is directly tied to the greater sensitivity of the brain to potential losses compared with potential gains and uncovers a brain network whose activity increases with potential gains and decreases with potential losses. These results challenge the common view that loss aversion engages a distinct emotion-related brain network (e.g. amygdala and insula).
Trends in Cognitive Science, in press
Little is known about the neural systems that subserve human loss aversion. A recent neuroimaging study by Tom, Poldrack and colleagues reports that this pattern of behaviour is directly tied to the greater sensitivity of the brain to potential losses compared with potential gains and uncovers a brain network whose activity increases with potential gains and decreases with potential losses. These results challenge the common view that loss aversion engages a distinct emotion-related brain network (e.g. amygdala and insula).
ARTICLE UPDATE - Interrelations between motivational stance, cortical excitability, and the frontal electroencephalogram asymmetry of emotion: A trans
Schutter DJ, Weijer AD, Meuwese JD, Morgan B, Honk JV.
Human Brain Mapping, in press
Several electrophysiological studies have provided evidence for the frontal asymmetry of emotion. In this model the motivation to approach is lateralized to the left, whereas the motivation to avoidance is lateralized to the right hemisphere. The aim of the present experiment was to seek evidence for this model by relating electrophysiological and phenomenological indices of frontal asymmetry to a direct measure of cortical excitability. Frontal asymmetrical resting states of the electroencephalogram and motivational tendencies indexed by the Carver and White questionnaire were compared with neural excitability of the left and right primary motor cortex as assessed by transcranial magnetic stimulation in 24 young healthy right-handed volunteers. In agreement with the model of frontal asymmetry, predominant left over right frontal cortical excitability was associated with enhanced emotional approach relative to emotional avoidance. Moreover, the asymmetries of brain excitability and approach-avoidance motivational predispositions were both reflected by frontal beta (13-30 Hz) electroencephalogram asymmetries. In conclusion, the currently demonstrated interconnections between cortical excitability, electrophysiological activity, and self-reported emotional tendencies for approach or avoidance support the frontal asymmetry of emotion model and provide novel insights into its biological underpinnings. Hum Brain Mapp 2007.
Human Brain Mapping, in press
Several electrophysiological studies have provided evidence for the frontal asymmetry of emotion. In this model the motivation to approach is lateralized to the left, whereas the motivation to avoidance is lateralized to the right hemisphere. The aim of the present experiment was to seek evidence for this model by relating electrophysiological and phenomenological indices of frontal asymmetry to a direct measure of cortical excitability. Frontal asymmetrical resting states of the electroencephalogram and motivational tendencies indexed by the Carver and White questionnaire were compared with neural excitability of the left and right primary motor cortex as assessed by transcranial magnetic stimulation in 24 young healthy right-handed volunteers. In agreement with the model of frontal asymmetry, predominant left over right frontal cortical excitability was associated with enhanced emotional approach relative to emotional avoidance. Moreover, the asymmetries of brain excitability and approach-avoidance motivational predispositions were both reflected by frontal beta (13-30 Hz) electroencephalogram asymmetries. In conclusion, the currently demonstrated interconnections between cortical excitability, electrophysiological activity, and self-reported emotional tendencies for approach or avoidance support the frontal asymmetry of emotion model and provide novel insights into its biological underpinnings. Hum Brain Mapp 2007.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - The Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Autobiographical Memory: Neural Correlates of Recall, Emotional Intensity, and Reliving
Sander M. Daselaar, Heather J. Rice1, Daniel L. Greenberg, Roberto Cabeza, Kevin S. LaBar and David C. Rubin
Cerebral Cortex, in press
We sought to map the time course of autobiographical memory retrieval, including brain regions that mediate phenomenological experiences of reliving and emotional intensity. Participants recalled personal memories to auditory word cues during event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants pressed a button when a memory was accessed, maintained and elaborated the memory, and then gave subjective ratings of emotion and reliving. A novel fMRI approach based on timing differences capitalized on the protracted reconstructive process of autobiographical memory to segregate brain areas contributing to initial access and later elaboration and maintenance of episodic memories. The initial period engaged hippocampal, retrosplenial, and medial and right prefrontal activity, whereas the later period recruited visual, precuneus, and left prefrontal activity. Emotional intensity ratings were correlated with activity in several regions, including the amygdala and the hippocampus during the initial period. Reliving ratings were correlated with activity in visual cortex and ventromedial and inferior prefrontal regions during the later period. Frontopolar cortex was the only brain region sensitive to emotional intensity across both periods. Results were confirmed by time-locked averages of the fMRI signal. The findings indicate dynamic recruitment of emotion-, memory-, and sensory-related brain regions during remembering and their dissociable contributions to phenomenological features of the memories.
Cerebral Cortex, in press
We sought to map the time course of autobiographical memory retrieval, including brain regions that mediate phenomenological experiences of reliving and emotional intensity. Participants recalled personal memories to auditory word cues during event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants pressed a button when a memory was accessed, maintained and elaborated the memory, and then gave subjective ratings of emotion and reliving. A novel fMRI approach based on timing differences capitalized on the protracted reconstructive process of autobiographical memory to segregate brain areas contributing to initial access and later elaboration and maintenance of episodic memories. The initial period engaged hippocampal, retrosplenial, and medial and right prefrontal activity, whereas the later period recruited visual, precuneus, and left prefrontal activity. Emotional intensity ratings were correlated with activity in several regions, including the amygdala and the hippocampus during the initial period. Reliving ratings were correlated with activity in visual cortex and ventromedial and inferior prefrontal regions during the later period. Frontopolar cortex was the only brain region sensitive to emotional intensity across both periods. Results were confirmed by time-locked averages of the fMRI signal. The findings indicate dynamic recruitment of emotion-, memory-, and sensory-related brain regions during remembering and their dissociable contributions to phenomenological features of the memories.
Monday, June 04, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - On the nature of the affective priming effect: effects of stimulus onset asynchrony and congruency proportion in naming and evaluativ
Spruyt A, Hermans D, De Houwer J, Vandromme H, Eelen P.
Memory and Cognition, 35, 95-106
In line with the hypothesis that affective priming of evaluative categorization responses is based on processes that operate at a response selection stage, it has been observed that increasing the proportion of congruent trials brings about increased affective priming effects at short stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) in the evaluative categorization task. In the present study, we orthogonally manipulated the congruency proportion (.25, .50, and .75) and the SOA (0, 200, and 1,000 msec) in the evaluative categorization task and a naming task. Results showed that at both short and long SOAs, the affective priming effect in the evaluative categorization task was influenced by the congruency proportion. In contrast, affective priming effects in the naming task were unaffected by the congruency proportion at short SOAs. This pattern of results provides corroborating evidence for the hypotheses (1) that different processes underlie the affective priming effect in the evaluative categorization task and the naming task and (2) that valenced stimuli can automatically preactivate the memory representations of other, affectively related stimuli.
Memory and Cognition, 35, 95-106
In line with the hypothesis that affective priming of evaluative categorization responses is based on processes that operate at a response selection stage, it has been observed that increasing the proportion of congruent trials brings about increased affective priming effects at short stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) in the evaluative categorization task. In the present study, we orthogonally manipulated the congruency proportion (.25, .50, and .75) and the SOA (0, 200, and 1,000 msec) in the evaluative categorization task and a naming task. Results showed that at both short and long SOAs, the affective priming effect in the evaluative categorization task was influenced by the congruency proportion. In contrast, affective priming effects in the naming task were unaffected by the congruency proportion at short SOAs. This pattern of results provides corroborating evidence for the hypotheses (1) that different processes underlie the affective priming effect in the evaluative categorization task and the naming task and (2) that valenced stimuli can automatically preactivate the memory representations of other, affectively related stimuli.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Neurology of affective prosody and its functional-anatomic organization in right hemisphere.
Ross ED, Monnot M.
Brain and Language, in press
Unlike the aphasic syndromes, the organization of affective prosody in brain has remained controversial because affective-prosodic deficits may occur after left or right brain damage. However, different patterns of deficits are observed following left and right brain damage that suggest affective prosody is a dominant and lateralized function of the right hemisphere. Using the Aprosodia Battery, which was developed to differentiate left and right hemisphere patterns of affective-prosodic deficits, functional-anatomic evidence is presented in patients with focal ischemic strokes to support the concepts that (1) affective prosody is a dominant and lateralized function of the right hemisphere, (2) the intrahemispheric organization of affective prosody in the right hemisphere, with the partial exception of Repetition, is analogous to the organization of propositional language in the left hemisphere and (3) the aprosodic syndromes are cortically based as part of evolutionary adaptations underlying human language and communication.
Brain and Language, in press
Unlike the aphasic syndromes, the organization of affective prosody in brain has remained controversial because affective-prosodic deficits may occur after left or right brain damage. However, different patterns of deficits are observed following left and right brain damage that suggest affective prosody is a dominant and lateralized function of the right hemisphere. Using the Aprosodia Battery, which was developed to differentiate left and right hemisphere patterns of affective-prosodic deficits, functional-anatomic evidence is presented in patients with focal ischemic strokes to support the concepts that (1) affective prosody is a dominant and lateralized function of the right hemisphere, (2) the intrahemispheric organization of affective prosody in the right hemisphere, with the partial exception of Repetition, is analogous to the organization of propositional language in the left hemisphere and (3) the aprosodic syndromes are cortically based as part of evolutionary adaptations underlying human language and communication.
ARTICLE UPDATE- Does emotion modulate the blink reflex in human conditioning? Startle potentiation during pleasant and unpleasant cues in the picture-
Mallan KM, Lipp OV.
Psychophysiology, in press
Emotional processes modulate the size of the eyeblink startle reflex in a picture-viewing paradigm, but it is unclear whether emotional processes are responsible for blink modulation in human conditioning. Experiment 1 involved an aversive differential conditioning phase followed by an extinction phase in which acoustic startle probes were presented during CS+, CS−, and intertrial intervals. Valence ratings and affective priming showed the CS+ was unpleasant postacquisition. Blink startle magnitude was larger during CS+ than during CS−. Experiment 2 used the same design in two groups trained with pleasant or unpleasant pictorial USs. Ratings and affective priming indicated that the CS+ had become pleasant or unpleasant in the respective group. Regardless of CS valence, blink startle was larger during CS+ than CS− in both groups. Thus, startle was not modulated by CS valence.
Psychophysiology, in press
Emotional processes modulate the size of the eyeblink startle reflex in a picture-viewing paradigm, but it is unclear whether emotional processes are responsible for blink modulation in human conditioning. Experiment 1 involved an aversive differential conditioning phase followed by an extinction phase in which acoustic startle probes were presented during CS+, CS−, and intertrial intervals. Valence ratings and affective priming showed the CS+ was unpleasant postacquisition. Blink startle magnitude was larger during CS+ than during CS−. Experiment 2 used the same design in two groups trained with pleasant or unpleasant pictorial USs. Ratings and affective priming indicated that the CS+ had become pleasant or unpleasant in the respective group. Regardless of CS valence, blink startle was larger during CS+ than CS− in both groups. Thus, startle was not modulated by CS valence.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Ageing and autobiographical memory for emotional and neutral events.
St Jacques PL, Levine B.
Memory, 15, 129-144
We investigated age-related effects in recall of emotional and neutral autobiographical memories. Protocols were scored according to episodic and non-episodic detail categories using the Autobiographical Interview. Young adults recalled a greater number of episodic details compared to older adults, whereas older adults recalled more semantic details, replicating previous findings. Both young and older adults' emotional memories contained more overall detail than neutral ones, with the enhancement from emotion-specific to episodic details, but this did not alter the effect of age group on the pattern of episodic and semantic details. However, the age effect on episodic details was attenuated for neutral autobiographical memories. The findings suggest that age differences for emotional autobiographical recollection might reflect a more general pattern of age-related changes in memory, with impaired recall of episodic components and relative sparing of semantic aspects of autobiographical memory in older adults when compared to young adults.
Memory, 15, 129-144
We investigated age-related effects in recall of emotional and neutral autobiographical memories. Protocols were scored according to episodic and non-episodic detail categories using the Autobiographical Interview. Young adults recalled a greater number of episodic details compared to older adults, whereas older adults recalled more semantic details, replicating previous findings. Both young and older adults' emotional memories contained more overall detail than neutral ones, with the enhancement from emotion-specific to episodic details, but this did not alter the effect of age group on the pattern of episodic and semantic details. However, the age effect on episodic details was attenuated for neutral autobiographical memories. The findings suggest that age differences for emotional autobiographical recollection might reflect a more general pattern of age-related changes in memory, with impaired recall of episodic components and relative sparing of semantic aspects of autobiographical memory in older adults when compared to young adults.
Friday, May 25, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - Emotional state and initiating cue alter central and peripheral motor processes.
Coombes SA, Cauraugh JH, Janelle CM.
Emotion, 7, 275-284
Evidence indicates that voluntary and involuntary movements are altered by affective context as well as the characteristics of an initiating cue. The purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of central and peripheral mechanisms to this phenomenon. During the presentation of pleasant, unpleasant, neutral, and blank images, participants (N = 33) responded to auditory stimuli (startle, 107 dB startle or 80 dB tone) by initiating a bimanual isometric contraction of the wrist and finger extensor muscles. Analyses of electromyography and force measures supported the hypothesis that exposure to unpleasant images accelerates central processing times and increases the gradient of slope of peripheral movement execution. In addition, startle cues as compared with tone cues accelerated and magnified all temporal and amplitude indices. Collectively, these findings have noteworthy implications for (a) those seeking to facilitate the speed and force of voluntary movement (i.e., movement rehabilitation), (b) understanding the higher incidence of motor difficulty in individuals with affective disorders, and (c) those seeking to regulate emotional input so as to optimize the quality of intended movements.
Emotion, 7, 275-284
Evidence indicates that voluntary and involuntary movements are altered by affective context as well as the characteristics of an initiating cue. The purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of central and peripheral mechanisms to this phenomenon. During the presentation of pleasant, unpleasant, neutral, and blank images, participants (N = 33) responded to auditory stimuli (startle, 107 dB startle or 80 dB tone) by initiating a bimanual isometric contraction of the wrist and finger extensor muscles. Analyses of electromyography and force measures supported the hypothesis that exposure to unpleasant images accelerates central processing times and increases the gradient of slope of peripheral movement execution. In addition, startle cues as compared with tone cues accelerated and magnified all temporal and amplitude indices. Collectively, these findings have noteworthy implications for (a) those seeking to facilitate the speed and force of voluntary movement (i.e., movement rehabilitation), (b) understanding the higher incidence of motor difficulty in individuals with affective disorders, and (c) those seeking to regulate emotional input so as to optimize the quality of intended movements.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Attention for emotional faces under restricted awareness revisited: Do emotional faces automatically attract attention?
Koster EH, Verschuere B, Burssens B, Custers R, Crombez G.
Emotion, 7, 289-295
Theoretical models of attention for affective information have assigned a special status to the cognitive processing of emotional facial expressions. One specific claim in this regard is that emotional faces automatically attract visual attention. In three experiments, the authors investigated attentional cueing by angry, happy, and neutral facial expressions that were presented under conditions of limited awareness. In these experiments, facial expressions were presented in a masked (14 ms or 34 ms, masked by a neutral face) and unmasked fashion (34 ms or 100 ms). Compared with trials containing neutral cues, delayed responding was found on trials with emotional cues in the unmasked, 100-ms condition, suggesting stronger allocation of cognitive resources to emotional faces. However, in both masked and unmasked conditions, the hypothesized cueing of visual attention to the location of emotional facial expression was not found. In contrary, attentional cueing by emotional faces was less strong compared with neutral faces in the unmasked, 100-ms condition. These data suggest that briefly presented emotional faces influence cognitive processing but do not automatically capture visual attention.
Emotion, 7, 289-295
Theoretical models of attention for affective information have assigned a special status to the cognitive processing of emotional facial expressions. One specific claim in this regard is that emotional faces automatically attract visual attention. In three experiments, the authors investigated attentional cueing by angry, happy, and neutral facial expressions that were presented under conditions of limited awareness. In these experiments, facial expressions were presented in a masked (14 ms or 34 ms, masked by a neutral face) and unmasked fashion (34 ms or 100 ms). Compared with trials containing neutral cues, delayed responding was found on trials with emotional cues in the unmasked, 100-ms condition, suggesting stronger allocation of cognitive resources to emotional faces. However, in both masked and unmasked conditions, the hypothesized cueing of visual attention to the location of emotional facial expression was not found. In contrary, attentional cueing by emotional faces was less strong compared with neutral faces in the unmasked, 100-ms condition. These data suggest that briefly presented emotional faces influence cognitive processing but do not automatically capture visual attention.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Automatic attention does not equal automatic fear: Preferential attention without implicit valence.
Purkis HM, Lipp OV.
Emotion, 7, 314-323
Theories of nonassociative fear acquisition hold that humans have an innate predisposition for some fears, such as fear of snakes and spiders. This predisposition may be mediated by an evolved fear module (Ohman & Mineka, 2001) that responds to basic perceptual features of threat stimuli by directing attention preferentially and generating an automatic fear response. Visual search and affective priming tasks were used to examine attentional processing and implicit evaluation of snake and spider pictures in participants with different explicit attitudes; controls (n = 25) and snake and spider experts (n = 23). Attentional processing and explicit evaluation were found to diverge; snakes and spiders were preferentially attended to by all participants; however, they were negative only for controls. Implicit evaluations of dangerous and nondangerous snakes and spiders, which have similar perceptual features, differed for expert participants, but not for controls. The authors suggest that although snakes and spiders are preferentially attended to, negative evaluations are not automatically elicited during this processing.
Emotion, 7, 314-323
Theories of nonassociative fear acquisition hold that humans have an innate predisposition for some fears, such as fear of snakes and spiders. This predisposition may be mediated by an evolved fear module (Ohman & Mineka, 2001) that responds to basic perceptual features of threat stimuli by directing attention preferentially and generating an automatic fear response. Visual search and affective priming tasks were used to examine attentional processing and implicit evaluation of snake and spider pictures in participants with different explicit attitudes; controls (n = 25) and snake and spider experts (n = 23). Attentional processing and explicit evaluation were found to diverge; snakes and spiders were preferentially attended to by all participants; however, they were negative only for controls. Implicit evaluations of dangerous and nondangerous snakes and spiders, which have similar perceptual features, differed for expert participants, but not for controls. The authors suggest that although snakes and spiders are preferentially attended to, negative evaluations are not automatically elicited during this processing.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Neural substrates of the interaction of emotional stimulus processing and motor inhibitory control: An emotional linguistic go/no-go
Martin Goldsteina et al.
NeuroImage, in press
Neural substrates of behavioral inhibitory control have been probed in a variety of animal model, physiologic, behavioral, and imaging studies, many emphasizing the role of prefrontal circuits. Likewise, the neurocircuitry of emotion has been investigated from a variety of perspectives. Recently, neural mechanisms mediating the interaction of emotion and behavioral regulation have become the focus of intense study. To further define neurocircuitry specifically underlying the interaction between emotional processing and response inhibition, we developed an emotional linguistic go/no-go fMRI paradigm with a factorial block design which joins explicit inhibitory task demand (i.e., go or no-go) with task-unrelated incidental emotional stimulus valence manipulation, to probe the modulation of the former by the latter. In this study of normal subjects focusing on negative emotional processing, we hypothesized activity changes in specific frontal neocortical and limbic regions reflecting modulation of response inhibition by negative stimulus processing. We observed common fronto-limbic activations (including orbitofrontal cortical and amygdalar components) associated with the interaction of emotional stimulus processing and response suppression. Further, we found a distributed cortico-limbic network to be a candidate neural substrate for the interaction of negative valence-specific processing and inhibitory task demand. These findings have implications for elucidating neural mechanisms of emotional modulation of behavioral control, with relevance to a variety of neuropsychiatric disease states marked by behavioral dysregulation within the context of negative emotional processing.
NeuroImage, in press
Neural substrates of behavioral inhibitory control have been probed in a variety of animal model, physiologic, behavioral, and imaging studies, many emphasizing the role of prefrontal circuits. Likewise, the neurocircuitry of emotion has been investigated from a variety of perspectives. Recently, neural mechanisms mediating the interaction of emotion and behavioral regulation have become the focus of intense study. To further define neurocircuitry specifically underlying the interaction between emotional processing and response inhibition, we developed an emotional linguistic go/no-go fMRI paradigm with a factorial block design which joins explicit inhibitory task demand (i.e., go or no-go) with task-unrelated incidental emotional stimulus valence manipulation, to probe the modulation of the former by the latter. In this study of normal subjects focusing on negative emotional processing, we hypothesized activity changes in specific frontal neocortical and limbic regions reflecting modulation of response inhibition by negative stimulus processing. We observed common fronto-limbic activations (including orbitofrontal cortical and amygdalar components) associated with the interaction of emotional stimulus processing and response suppression. Further, we found a distributed cortico-limbic network to be a candidate neural substrate for the interaction of negative valence-specific processing and inhibitory task demand. These findings have implications for elucidating neural mechanisms of emotional modulation of behavioral control, with relevance to a variety of neuropsychiatric disease states marked by behavioral dysregulation within the context of negative emotional processing.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Embodying emotion.
Niedenthal PM.
Science, 316, 1002-1005
Recent theories of embodied cognition suggest new ways to look at how we process emotional information. The theories suggest that perceiving and thinking about emotion involve perceptual, somatovisceral, and motoric reexperiencing (collectively referred to as "embodiment") of the relevant emotion in one's self. The embodiment of emotion, when induced in human participants by manipulations of facial expression and posture in the laboratory, causally affects how emotional information is processed. Congruence between the recipient's bodily expression of emotion and the sender's emotional tone of language, for instance, facilitates comprehension of the communication, whereas incongruence can impair comprehension. Taken all together, recent findings provide a scientific account of the familiar contention that "when you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you."
Science, 316, 1002-1005
Recent theories of embodied cognition suggest new ways to look at how we process emotional information. The theories suggest that perceiving and thinking about emotion involve perceptual, somatovisceral, and motoric reexperiencing (collectively referred to as "embodiment") of the relevant emotion in one's self. The embodiment of emotion, when induced in human participants by manipulations of facial expression and posture in the laboratory, causally affects how emotional information is processed. Congruence between the recipient's bodily expression of emotion and the sender's emotional tone of language, for instance, facilitates comprehension of the communication, whereas incongruence can impair comprehension. Taken all together, recent findings provide a scientific account of the familiar contention that "when you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you."
ARTICLE UPDATE - Fear and anxiety as separable emotions: An investigation of the revised reinforcement sensitivity theory of personality.
Perkins AM, Kemp SE, Corr PJ
Emotion, 7, 252-261
The Gray and McNaughton (2000) theory draws on a wide range of animal data to hypothesize that the emotions of fear and anxiety are separable. The authors tested their hypothesis in two studies. The first study examined associations between scores on questionnaire measures of fear, anxiety, and neuroticism; correlational analysis revealed that fear and anxiety are not interchangeable constructs. The second study examined associations between scores on questionnaire measures of fear/anxiety and performance in a military training setting; regression analysis revealed that fear captured significant variance in performance that was not shared with anxiety. These results imply that hypotheses derived from nonhuman animal data may hold important implications for understanding human emotion and motivation, especially in relation to fear and anxiety.
Emotion, 7, 252-261
The Gray and McNaughton (2000) theory draws on a wide range of animal data to hypothesize that the emotions of fear and anxiety are separable. The authors tested their hypothesis in two studies. The first study examined associations between scores on questionnaire measures of fear, anxiety, and neuroticism; correlational analysis revealed that fear and anxiety are not interchangeable constructs. The second study examined associations between scores on questionnaire measures of fear/anxiety and performance in a military training setting; regression analysis revealed that fear captured significant variance in performance that was not shared with anxiety. These results imply that hypotheses derived from nonhuman animal data may hold important implications for understanding human emotion and motivation, especially in relation to fear and anxiety.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Garner interference reveals dependencies between emotional expression and gaze in face perception.
Graham R, Labar KS
Emotion, 7, 296-313
The relationship between facial expression and gaze processing was investigated with the Garner selective attention paradigm. In Experiment 1, participants performed expression judgments without interference from gaze, but expression interfered with gaze judgments. Experiment 2 replicated these results across different emotions. In both experiments, expression judgments occurred faster than gaze judgments, suggesting that expression was processed before gaze could interfere. In Experiments 3 and 4, the difficulty of the emotion discrimination was increased in two different ways. In both cases, gaze interfered with emotion judgments and vice versa. Furthermore, increasing the difficulty of the emotion discrimination resulted in gaze and expression interactions. Results indicate that expression and gaze interactions are modulated by discriminability. Whereas expression generally interferes with gaze judgments, gaze direction modulates expression processing only when facial emotion is difficult to discriminate.
Emotion, 7, 296-313
The relationship between facial expression and gaze processing was investigated with the Garner selective attention paradigm. In Experiment 1, participants performed expression judgments without interference from gaze, but expression interfered with gaze judgments. Experiment 2 replicated these results across different emotions. In both experiments, expression judgments occurred faster than gaze judgments, suggesting that expression was processed before gaze could interfere. In Experiments 3 and 4, the difficulty of the emotion discrimination was increased in two different ways. In both cases, gaze interfered with emotion judgments and vice versa. Furthermore, increasing the difficulty of the emotion discrimination resulted in gaze and expression interactions. Results indicate that expression and gaze interactions are modulated by discriminability. Whereas expression generally interferes with gaze judgments, gaze direction modulates expression processing only when facial emotion is difficult to discriminate.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Dissociable effects of conscious emotion regulation strategies on explicit and implicit memory.
Dillon DG, Ritchey M, Johnson BD, Labar KS.
Emotion, 7, 354-365
The authors manipulated emotion regulation strategies at encoding and administered explicit and implicit memory tests. In Experiment 1, participants used reappraisal to enhance and decrease the personal relevance of unpleasant and neutral pictures. In Experiment 2, decrease cues were replaced with suppress cues that directed participants to inhibit emotion-expressive behavior. Across experiments, using reappraisal to enhance the personal relevance of pictures improved free recall. By contrast, attempting to suppress emotional displays tended to impair recall, especially compared to the enhance condition. Using reappraisal to decrease the personal relevance of pictures had different effects depending on picture type. Paired with unpleasant pictures, the decrease cue tended to improve recall. Paired with neutral stimuli, the decrease cue tended to impair recall. Emotion regulation did not affect perceptual priming. Results highlight dissociable effects of emotion regulation on explicit and implicit memory, as well as dissociations between regulation strategies with respect to explicit memory.
Emotion, 7, 354-365
The authors manipulated emotion regulation strategies at encoding and administered explicit and implicit memory tests. In Experiment 1, participants used reappraisal to enhance and decrease the personal relevance of unpleasant and neutral pictures. In Experiment 2, decrease cues were replaced with suppress cues that directed participants to inhibit emotion-expressive behavior. Across experiments, using reappraisal to enhance the personal relevance of pictures improved free recall. By contrast, attempting to suppress emotional displays tended to impair recall, especially compared to the enhance condition. Using reappraisal to decrease the personal relevance of pictures had different effects depending on picture type. Paired with unpleasant pictures, the decrease cue tended to improve recall. Paired with neutral stimuli, the decrease cue tended to impair recall. Emotion regulation did not affect perceptual priming. Results highlight dissociable effects of emotion regulation on explicit and implicit memory, as well as dissociations between regulation strategies with respect to explicit memory.
Friday, May 18, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - Gaze fixations predict brain activation during the voluntary regulation of picture-induced negative affect.
Carien M. van Reekuma, Tom Johnstone, Heather L. Urry, Marchell E. Thurow, Hillary S. Schaefer, Andrew L. Alexander and Richard J. Davidson
NeuroImage, in press
Recent studies have identified a distributed network of brain regions thought to support cognitive reappraisal processes underlying emotion regulation in response to affective images, including parieto-temporal regions and lateral/medial regions of prefrontal cortex (PFC). A number of these commonly activated regions are also known to underlie visuospatial attention and oculomotor control, which raises the possibility that people use attentional redeployment rather than, or in addition to, reappraisal as a strategy to regulate emotion. We predicted that a significant portion of the observed variance in brain activation during emotion regulation tasks would be associated with differences in how participants visually scan the images while regulating their emotions. We recorded brain activation using fMRI and quantified patterns of gaze fixation while participants increased or decreased their affective response to a set of affective images. fMRI results replicated previous findings on emotion regulation with regulation differences reflected in regions of PFC and the amygdala. In addition, our gaze fixation data revealed that when regulating, individuals changed their gaze patterns relative to a control condition. Furthermore, this variation in gaze fixation accounted for substantial amounts of variance in brain activation. These data point to the importance of controlling for gaze fixation in studies of emotion regulation that use visual stimuli.
NeuroImage, in press
Recent studies have identified a distributed network of brain regions thought to support cognitive reappraisal processes underlying emotion regulation in response to affective images, including parieto-temporal regions and lateral/medial regions of prefrontal cortex (PFC). A number of these commonly activated regions are also known to underlie visuospatial attention and oculomotor control, which raises the possibility that people use attentional redeployment rather than, or in addition to, reappraisal as a strategy to regulate emotion. We predicted that a significant portion of the observed variance in brain activation during emotion regulation tasks would be associated with differences in how participants visually scan the images while regulating their emotions. We recorded brain activation using fMRI and quantified patterns of gaze fixation while participants increased or decreased their affective response to a set of affective images. fMRI results replicated previous findings on emotion regulation with regulation differences reflected in regions of PFC and the amygdala. In addition, our gaze fixation data revealed that when regulating, individuals changed their gaze patterns relative to a control condition. Furthermore, this variation in gaze fixation accounted for substantial amounts of variance in brain activation. These data point to the importance of controlling for gaze fixation in studies of emotion regulation that use visual stimuli.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Attention control, memory updating, and emotion regulation temporarily reduce the capacity for executive control.
Schmeichel BJ.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 136, 241-255.
This research tested the hypothesis that initial efforts at executive control temporarily undermine subsequent efforts at executive control. Four experiments revealed that controlling the focus of visual attention (Experiment 1), inhibiting predominant writing tendencies (Experiment 2), taking a working memory test (Experiment 3), or exaggerating emotional expressions (Experiment 4) undermined performance on subsequent tests of working memory span, reverse digit span, and response inhibition, respectively. The results supported a limited resource model of executive control and cast doubt on competing accounts based on mood, motivation, or task difficulty. Prior efforts at executive control are a significant contextual determinant of the operation of executive processes.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 136, 241-255.
This research tested the hypothesis that initial efforts at executive control temporarily undermine subsequent efforts at executive control. Four experiments revealed that controlling the focus of visual attention (Experiment 1), inhibiting predominant writing tendencies (Experiment 2), taking a working memory test (Experiment 3), or exaggerating emotional expressions (Experiment 4) undermined performance on subsequent tests of working memory span, reverse digit span, and response inhibition, respectively. The results supported a limited resource model of executive control and cast doubt on competing accounts based on mood, motivation, or task difficulty. Prior efforts at executive control are a significant contextual determinant of the operation of executive processes.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - Visual presentation of phobic stimuli: Amygdala activation via an extrageniculostriate pathway?
Liesbet Goossens, Koen Schruers, Ronald Peeters, Eric Griez and Stefan Sunaert
Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, in press
In the present study, event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to examine the neural correlates of phobic fear by exposing spider phobic subjects to a visual presentation of spiders. In contrast to control subjects, spider phobics showed significantly increased activation in the amygdala and the pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus on the basis of region of interest (ROI) analysis. Furthermore, voxelwise analysis revealed increased activation related to phobia-specific pictures bilaterally in the anterior cingulate cortex, the left insular cortex and bilaterally in the supplementary motor area. These findings confirm the involvement of the amygdala in the processing of phobia-relevant stimuli as found earlier in a recent study. Moreover, the thalamus findings support the involvement of an extrageniculostriate pathway in the process of phobic fear.
Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, in press
In the present study, event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to examine the neural correlates of phobic fear by exposing spider phobic subjects to a visual presentation of spiders. In contrast to control subjects, spider phobics showed significantly increased activation in the amygdala and the pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus on the basis of region of interest (ROI) analysis. Furthermore, voxelwise analysis revealed increased activation related to phobia-specific pictures bilaterally in the anterior cingulate cortex, the left insular cortex and bilaterally in the supplementary motor area. These findings confirm the involvement of the amygdala in the processing of phobia-relevant stimuli as found earlier in a recent study. Moreover, the thalamus findings support the involvement of an extrageniculostriate pathway in the process of phobic fear.
Friday, May 11, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - Brain, emotion and decision making: the paradigmatic example of regret
Giorgio Coricelli, Raymond J. Dolan, and Angela Sirigu
Trends in Cognitive Sciences, in press
Human decisions cannot be explained solely by rational imperatives but are strongly influenced by emotion. Theoretical and behavioral studies provide a sound empirical basis to the impact of the emotion of regret in guiding choice behavior. Recent neuropsychological and neuroimaging data have stressed the fundamental role of the orbitofrontal cortex in mediating the experience of regret. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data indicate that reactivation of activity within the orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala occurring during the phase of choice, when the brain is anticipating possible future consequences of decisions, characterizes the anticipation of regret. In turn, these patterns reflect learning based on cumulative emotional experience. Moreover, affective consequences can induce specific mechanisms of cognitive control of the choice processes, involving reinforcement or avoidance of the experienced behavior.
Trends in Cognitive Sciences, in press
Human decisions cannot be explained solely by rational imperatives but are strongly influenced by emotion. Theoretical and behavioral studies provide a sound empirical basis to the impact of the emotion of regret in guiding choice behavior. Recent neuropsychological and neuroimaging data have stressed the fundamental role of the orbitofrontal cortex in mediating the experience of regret. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data indicate that reactivation of activity within the orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala occurring during the phase of choice, when the brain is anticipating possible future consequences of decisions, characterizes the anticipation of regret. In turn, these patterns reflect learning based on cumulative emotional experience. Moreover, affective consequences can induce specific mechanisms of cognitive control of the choice processes, involving reinforcement or avoidance of the experienced behavior.
ARTICLE UPDATE - fMRI delineation of working memory for emotional prosody in the brain: Commonalities with the lexico-semantic emotion network
Rachel L.C. Mitchell
NeuroImage, in press
Decoding emotional prosody is crucial for successful social interactions, and continuous monitoring of emotional intent via prosody requires working memory. It has been proposed by Ross and others that emotional prosody cognitions in the right hemisphere are organized in an analogous fashion to propositional language functions in the left hemisphere. This study aimed to test the applicability of this model in the context of prefrontal cortex working memory functions. BOLD response data were therefore collected during performance of two emotional working memory tasks by participants undergoing fMRI. In the prosody task, participants identified the emotion conveyed in pre-recorded sentences, and working memory load was manipulated in the style of an N-back task. In the matched lexico-semantic task, participants identified the emotion conveyed by sentence content. Block-design neuroimaging data were analyzed parametrically with SPM5. At first, working memory for emotional prosody appeared to be right-lateralized in the PFC, however, further analyses revealed that it shared much bilateral prefrontal functional neuroanatomy with working memory for lexico-semantic emotion. Supplementary separate analyses of males and females suggested that these language functions were less bilateral in females, but their inclusion did not alter the direction of laterality. It is concluded that Ross et al.’s model is not applicable to prefrontal cortex working memory functions, that evidence that working memory cannot be subdivided in prefrontal cortex according to material type is increased, and that incidental working memory demands may explain the frontal lobe involvement in emotional prosody comprehension as revealed by neuroimaging studies.
NeuroImage, in press
Decoding emotional prosody is crucial for successful social interactions, and continuous monitoring of emotional intent via prosody requires working memory. It has been proposed by Ross and others that emotional prosody cognitions in the right hemisphere are organized in an analogous fashion to propositional language functions in the left hemisphere. This study aimed to test the applicability of this model in the context of prefrontal cortex working memory functions. BOLD response data were therefore collected during performance of two emotional working memory tasks by participants undergoing fMRI. In the prosody task, participants identified the emotion conveyed in pre-recorded sentences, and working memory load was manipulated in the style of an N-back task. In the matched lexico-semantic task, participants identified the emotion conveyed by sentence content. Block-design neuroimaging data were analyzed parametrically with SPM5. At first, working memory for emotional prosody appeared to be right-lateralized in the PFC, however, further analyses revealed that it shared much bilateral prefrontal functional neuroanatomy with working memory for lexico-semantic emotion. Supplementary separate analyses of males and females suggested that these language functions were less bilateral in females, but their inclusion did not alter the direction of laterality. It is concluded that Ross et al.’s model is not applicable to prefrontal cortex working memory functions, that evidence that working memory cannot be subdivided in prefrontal cortex according to material type is increased, and that incidental working memory demands may explain the frontal lobe involvement in emotional prosody comprehension as revealed by neuroimaging studies.
Friday, May 04, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - A time-course analysis of attentional cueing by threatening scenes.
Koster EH, Crombez G, Verschuere B, Vanvolsem P, De Houwer J.
Experimental Psychology, 54, 161-171
Models of attention and emotion have assigned a special status to the processing of threatening information: Facilitated attentional capture by threat and its prioritized processing would allow for swift and adequate action to potentially dangerous stimuli. In four experiments, we examined the time-course of facilitated orienting of attention to threatening scenes in the exogenous cueing paradigm. Threat value and presentation duration of the cues were systematically varied. Facilitated attentional capture by threat was limited to highly threatening pictures presented for 100 ms. No attentional effects were observed with a 28 ms cue presentation duration. At slightly longer cue presentations, 200 ms and 500 ms, results indicated no and even reduced attentional capture by threat compared with neutral information. The present results provide support for the idea that threat facilitates fast attentional orienting to its location, followed by the inhibition of attention to threat.
Experimental Psychology, 54, 161-171
Models of attention and emotion have assigned a special status to the processing of threatening information: Facilitated attentional capture by threat and its prioritized processing would allow for swift and adequate action to potentially dangerous stimuli. In four experiments, we examined the time-course of facilitated orienting of attention to threatening scenes in the exogenous cueing paradigm. Threat value and presentation duration of the cues were systematically varied. Facilitated attentional capture by threat was limited to highly threatening pictures presented for 100 ms. No attentional effects were observed with a 28 ms cue presentation duration. At slightly longer cue presentations, 200 ms and 500 ms, results indicated no and even reduced attentional capture by threat compared with neutral information. The present results provide support for the idea that threat facilitates fast attentional orienting to its location, followed by the inhibition of attention to threat.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - Neural Correlates of Positive and Negative Emotion Regulation
Sang Hee Kim and Stephan Hamann
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19, 776-798
The ability to cope adaptively with emotional events by volitionally altering one's emotional reactions is important for psychological and physical health as well as social interaction. Cognitive regulation of emotional responses to aversive events engages prefrontal regions that modulate activity in emotion-processing regions such as the amygdala. However, the neural correlates of the regulation of positive emotions remain largely unexplored. We used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine the neural correlates of cognitively increasing and decreasing emotional reactions to positive and negative stimuli. Participants viewed negative, positive, and neutral pictures while attempting to increase, decrease, or not alter their emotional reactions. Subjective reactions were assessed via on-line ratings. Consistent with previous studies, increasing negative and positive emotion engaged primarily left-lateralized prefrontal regions, whereas decreasing emotion activated bilateral prefrontal regions. Different activations unique to increasing versus decreasing emotion were observed for positive and negative stimuli: Unique increase-related activations were observed only for positive stimuli, whereas unique decrease-related activations were observed only for negative stimuli. Regulation also modulated activity in the amygdala, a key emotion-processing region. Regulation effects on amygdala activity were larger for positive than for negative stimuli, potentially reflecting a greater malleability of positive emotional reactions. Increasing and decreasing positive and negative emotion can thus increase and decrease subjective reactions and associated amygdala activity in line with regulatory goals, and is associated with different patterns of prefrontal activation as a function of emotional valence and regulatory goal.
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19, 776-798
The ability to cope adaptively with emotional events by volitionally altering one's emotional reactions is important for psychological and physical health as well as social interaction. Cognitive regulation of emotional responses to aversive events engages prefrontal regions that modulate activity in emotion-processing regions such as the amygdala. However, the neural correlates of the regulation of positive emotions remain largely unexplored. We used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine the neural correlates of cognitively increasing and decreasing emotional reactions to positive and negative stimuli. Participants viewed negative, positive, and neutral pictures while attempting to increase, decrease, or not alter their emotional reactions. Subjective reactions were assessed via on-line ratings. Consistent with previous studies, increasing negative and positive emotion engaged primarily left-lateralized prefrontal regions, whereas decreasing emotion activated bilateral prefrontal regions. Different activations unique to increasing versus decreasing emotion were observed for positive and negative stimuli: Unique increase-related activations were observed only for positive stimuli, whereas unique decrease-related activations were observed only for negative stimuli. Regulation also modulated activity in the amygdala, a key emotion-processing region. Regulation effects on amygdala activity were larger for positive than for negative stimuli, potentially reflecting a greater malleability of positive emotional reactions. Increasing and decreasing positive and negative emotion can thus increase and decrease subjective reactions and associated amygdala activity in line with regulatory goals, and is associated with different patterns of prefrontal activation as a function of emotional valence and regulatory goal.
Friday, April 27, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - The influence of olfactory-induced negative emotion on verbal working memory: Individual differences in neurobehavioral findings
Habel U, Koch K, Pauly K, Kellermann T, Reske M, Backes V, Seiferth NY, Stocker T, Kircher T, Amunts K, Jon Shah N, Schneider F.
Brain Research, in press
The influence of emotion on cognition plays an important role in people's everyday life as well as in psychiatric and neurological disorders. The present study used fMRI to examine the neural correlates of cognitive–emotional interactions and its inter-individual differences. Twenty-one healthy males performed a 0-back/2-back task while negative or neutral emotion was induced by negative/neutral olfactory stimulation. Subjects revealed a differential effect of emotion on cognition; in 9 subjects, negative odor had a deteriorating influence on verbal working memory (“affected group”, AG) while in 12 subjects, performance was not affected in a negative way (“unaffected group”, UAG). Although no brain activation differences emerged during the working memory task, the interaction of working memory and emotion yielded significant differences between the AG and the UAG. The latter showed greater activation in the fronto-parieto-cerebellar working memory (WM) network including the precuneus while the AG demonstrated stronger activation in more “emotional” areas (mainly the temporal and medial frontal cortex) as well as compensatory activations in prefrontal regions known to be essential for the cognitive down-regulation of emotions. Hence, the UAG may have been better able to counteract the detrimental influence of negative stimulation during the 2-back task and to effectively sustain or even increase activation in the task-relevant WM network. Correlation analyses for the whole group supported this interpretation; reduced working memory performance during negative stimulation was accompanied by higher activation in the inferior frontal gyrus whereas less performance impairment was related to higher activation in the precuneus. Results confirm the importance of incorporating individual differences in emotion processing and its interaction with cognitive functions in neuroimaging.
Brain Research, in press
The influence of emotion on cognition plays an important role in people's everyday life as well as in psychiatric and neurological disorders. The present study used fMRI to examine the neural correlates of cognitive–emotional interactions and its inter-individual differences. Twenty-one healthy males performed a 0-back/2-back task while negative or neutral emotion was induced by negative/neutral olfactory stimulation. Subjects revealed a differential effect of emotion on cognition; in 9 subjects, negative odor had a deteriorating influence on verbal working memory (“affected group”, AG) while in 12 subjects, performance was not affected in a negative way (“unaffected group”, UAG). Although no brain activation differences emerged during the working memory task, the interaction of working memory and emotion yielded significant differences between the AG and the UAG. The latter showed greater activation in the fronto-parieto-cerebellar working memory (WM) network including the precuneus while the AG demonstrated stronger activation in more “emotional” areas (mainly the temporal and medial frontal cortex) as well as compensatory activations in prefrontal regions known to be essential for the cognitive down-regulation of emotions. Hence, the UAG may have been better able to counteract the detrimental influence of negative stimulation during the 2-back task and to effectively sustain or even increase activation in the task-relevant WM network. Correlation analyses for the whole group supported this interpretation; reduced working memory performance during negative stimulation was accompanied by higher activation in the inferior frontal gyrus whereas less performance impairment was related to higher activation in the precuneus. Results confirm the importance of incorporating individual differences in emotion processing and its interaction with cognitive functions in neuroimaging.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Differential time-dependent effects of emotion on recollective experience and memory for contextual information
Tali Sharot and Andrew P. Yonelinas
Cognition, in press
Emotion has been suggested to slow forgetting via a mechanism that enhances memory consolidation. Here, we investigate whether this time dependent process influences the subjective experience of recollection as well as the ability to retrieve specific contextual details of the study event. To do so we examined recognition for emotional and neutral pictures at two retention intervals and collected remember/know reports and reports about the task that had been performed with the item during encoding. Recollective experience was enhanced for emotional compared to neutral photos after a 24-h delay, but not immediately after encoding. In contrast, memory for the task performed during encoding did not differ between emotional and neutral photos at either time point. The findings indicate that emotion slows the effects of forgetting on the recollective experience associated with studied events, without necessarily slowing the forgetting of specific contextual details of those events.
Cognition, in press
Emotion has been suggested to slow forgetting via a mechanism that enhances memory consolidation. Here, we investigate whether this time dependent process influences the subjective experience of recollection as well as the ability to retrieve specific contextual details of the study event. To do so we examined recognition for emotional and neutral pictures at two retention intervals and collected remember/know reports and reports about the task that had been performed with the item during encoding. Recollective experience was enhanced for emotional compared to neutral photos after a 24-h delay, but not immediately after encoding. In contrast, memory for the task performed during encoding did not differ between emotional and neutral photos at either time point. The findings indicate that emotion slows the effects of forgetting on the recollective experience associated with studied events, without necessarily slowing the forgetting of specific contextual details of those events.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Affective evaluations of objects are influenced by observed gaze direction and emotional expression
Andrew P. Bayliss, Alexandra Frischen, Mark J. Fenske and Steven P. Tipper
Cognition, in press
Gaze direction signals another person’s focus of interest. Facial expressions convey information about their mental state. Appropriate responses to these signals should reflect their combined influence, yet current evidence suggests that gaze-cueing effects for objects near an observed face are not modulated by its emotional expression. Here, we extend the investigation of perceived gaze direction and emotional expression by considering their combined influence on affective judgments. While traditional response-time measures revealed equal gaze-cueing effects for happy and disgust faces, affective evaluations critically depended on the combined product of gaze and emotion. Target objects looked at with a happy expression were liked more than objects looked at with a disgust expression. Objects not looked at were rated equally for both expressions. Our results demonstrate that facial expression does modulate the way that observers utilize gaze cues: Objects attended by others are evaluated according to the valence of their facial expression.
Cognition, in press
Gaze direction signals another person’s focus of interest. Facial expressions convey information about their mental state. Appropriate responses to these signals should reflect their combined influence, yet current evidence suggests that gaze-cueing effects for objects near an observed face are not modulated by its emotional expression. Here, we extend the investigation of perceived gaze direction and emotional expression by considering their combined influence on affective judgments. While traditional response-time measures revealed equal gaze-cueing effects for happy and disgust faces, affective evaluations critically depended on the combined product of gaze and emotion. Target objects looked at with a happy expression were liked more than objects looked at with a disgust expression. Objects not looked at were rated equally for both expressions. Our results demonstrate that facial expression does modulate the way that observers utilize gaze cues: Objects attended by others are evaluated according to the valence of their facial expression.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - Emotions and False Memories: Valence or Arousal?
Corson, Yves & Verrier, Nadège
Psychological Science, 18, 208-211.
The effects of mood on false memories have not been studied systematically until recently. Some results seem to indicate that negative mood may reduce false recall and thus suggest an influence of emotional valence on false memory. The present research tested the effects of both valence and arousal on recall and recognition and indicates that the effect is actually due to arousal. In fact, whether participants' mood is positive, negative, or neutral, false memories are significantly more frequent under conditions of high arousal than under conditions of low arousal.
Psychological Science, 18, 208-211.
The effects of mood on false memories have not been studied systematically until recently. Some results seem to indicate that negative mood may reduce false recall and thus suggest an influence of emotional valence on false memory. The present research tested the effects of both valence and arousal on recall and recognition and indicates that the effect is actually due to arousal. In fact, whether participants' mood is positive, negative, or neutral, false memories are significantly more frequent under conditions of high arousal than under conditions of low arousal.
Friday, April 20, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - Independent Effects of Emotion and Working Memory Load on Visual Activation in the Lateral Occipital Complex
Jan Gläscher, Michael Rose, and Christian Büchel
The Journal of Neuroscience, 27, 4366-4373.
Emotional salience and working memory (WM) load are known to affect object processing in the ventral stream. However, the combined effect, which could be either synergistic or antagonistic, remains unclear. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging and a three-factorial design, we investigated the effects of WM load and emotional salience on object processing in the ventral visual stream. Twenty-three female subjects were shown blocks of task-irrelevant and more or less degraded visual stimuli that varied in emotional valence (negative or neutral) and phase coherence rendering them more or less noisy. Superimposed on these pictures, subjects saw colored squares on which they had to perform a demanding WM task (one-back, two-back). This WM task absorbs attentional resources normally available for the perceptual analysis of visual objects and can therefore be interpreted as a manipulation of attention. We hypothesized that attenuated processing resources in the lateral occipital complex (LOC) for these task-irrelevant pictures under high WM load (Rose et al., 2005) could be regained when they were of negative emotional valence. Our results indicate that both emotional salience and WM load critically depend on a minimum level of phase coherence of the stimuli to affect LOC activation. Furthermore, the influences of emotional salience and WM load do not interact with each other in LOC. Rather, emotional salience exerts a general multiplicative gain effect while preserving the difference in activation between low and high WM load. A connectivity analysis suggests that the emotional modulation might originate in the amygdalo-hippocampal junction.
The Journal of Neuroscience, 27, 4366-4373.
Emotional salience and working memory (WM) load are known to affect object processing in the ventral stream. However, the combined effect, which could be either synergistic or antagonistic, remains unclear. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging and a three-factorial design, we investigated the effects of WM load and emotional salience on object processing in the ventral visual stream. Twenty-three female subjects were shown blocks of task-irrelevant and more or less degraded visual stimuli that varied in emotional valence (negative or neutral) and phase coherence rendering them more or less noisy. Superimposed on these pictures, subjects saw colored squares on which they had to perform a demanding WM task (one-back, two-back). This WM task absorbs attentional resources normally available for the perceptual analysis of visual objects and can therefore be interpreted as a manipulation of attention. We hypothesized that attenuated processing resources in the lateral occipital complex (LOC) for these task-irrelevant pictures under high WM load (Rose et al., 2005) could be regained when they were of negative emotional valence. Our results indicate that both emotional salience and WM load critically depend on a minimum level of phase coherence of the stimuli to affect LOC activation. Furthermore, the influences of emotional salience and WM load do not interact with each other in LOC. Rather, emotional salience exerts a general multiplicative gain effect while preserving the difference in activation between low and high WM load. A connectivity analysis suggests that the emotional modulation might originate in the amygdalo-hippocampal junction.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Affective stimulus properties influence size perception and the Ebbinghaus illusion.
van Ulzen NR, Semin GR, Oudejans RR, Beek PJ.
Psychological Research, in press
In the New Look literature of the 1950s, it has been suggested that size judgments are dependent on the affective content of stimuli. This suggestion, however, has been 'discredited' due to contradictory findings and methodological problems. In the present study, we revisited this forgotten issue in two experiments. The first experiment investigated the influence of affective content on size perception by examining judgments of the size of target circles with and without affectively loaded (i.e., positive, neutral, and negative) pictures. Circles with a picture were estimated to be smaller than circles without a picture, and circles with a negative picture were estimated to be larger than circles with a positive or a neutral picture confirming the suggestion from the 1950s that size perception is influenced by affective content, an effect notably confined to negatively loaded stimuli. In a second experiment, we examined whether affective content influenced the Ebbinghaus illusion. Participants judged the size of a target circle whereby target and flanker circles differed in affective loading. The results replicated the first experiment. Additionally, the Ebbinghaus illusion was shown to be weakest for a negatively loaded target with positively loaded and blank flankers. A plausible explanation for both sets of experimental findings is that negatively loaded stimuli are more attention demanding than positively loaded or neutral stimuli.
Psychological Research, in press
In the New Look literature of the 1950s, it has been suggested that size judgments are dependent on the affective content of stimuli. This suggestion, however, has been 'discredited' due to contradictory findings and methodological problems. In the present study, we revisited this forgotten issue in two experiments. The first experiment investigated the influence of affective content on size perception by examining judgments of the size of target circles with and without affectively loaded (i.e., positive, neutral, and negative) pictures. Circles with a picture were estimated to be smaller than circles without a picture, and circles with a negative picture were estimated to be larger than circles with a positive or a neutral picture confirming the suggestion from the 1950s that size perception is influenced by affective content, an effect notably confined to negatively loaded stimuli. In a second experiment, we examined whether affective content influenced the Ebbinghaus illusion. Participants judged the size of a target circle whereby target and flanker circles differed in affective loading. The results replicated the first experiment. Additionally, the Ebbinghaus illusion was shown to be weakest for a negatively loaded target with positively loaded and blank flankers. A plausible explanation for both sets of experimental findings is that negatively loaded stimuli are more attention demanding than positively loaded or neutral stimuli.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Remembering Can Cause Forgetting-but Not in Negative Moods.
Bauml KH, Kuhbandner C.
Psychological Science, 18, 111-115.
Repeated retrieval of a subset of previously observed events can cause forgetting of the nonretrieved events. We examined how affective states experienced during retrieval modulate such retrieval-induced forgetting by inducing positive, negative, and neutral moods in subjects immediately before they attempted to retrieve studied items. On the basis of recent work, we hypothesized that positive moods encourage relational processing, which should increase interference from related events and thus enhance retrieval-induced forgetting. By contrast, negative moods should encourage item-specific processing, which should reduce interference and thus reduce such forgetting. Our results are consistent with these predictions. When subjects were in negative moods, repeated retrieval did not cause forgetting of the nonretrieved material, whereas when subjects were in positive and neutral moods, they showed reliable retrieval-induced forgetting. Our findings suggest that the emotions involved during interrogation of a witness can affect the result of repeated interrogations.
Psychological Science, 18, 111-115.
Repeated retrieval of a subset of previously observed events can cause forgetting of the nonretrieved events. We examined how affective states experienced during retrieval modulate such retrieval-induced forgetting by inducing positive, negative, and neutral moods in subjects immediately before they attempted to retrieve studied items. On the basis of recent work, we hypothesized that positive moods encourage relational processing, which should increase interference from related events and thus enhance retrieval-induced forgetting. By contrast, negative moods should encourage item-specific processing, which should reduce interference and thus reduce such forgetting. Our results are consistent with these predictions. When subjects were in negative moods, repeated retrieval did not cause forgetting of the nonretrieved material, whereas when subjects were in positive and neutral moods, they showed reliable retrieval-induced forgetting. Our findings suggest that the emotions involved during interrogation of a witness can affect the result of repeated interrogations.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Differential engagement of anterior cingulate cortex subdivisions for cognitive and emotional function.
Mohanty A, Engels AS, Herrington JD, Heller W, Ringo Ho MH, Banich MT, Webb AG, Warren SL, Miller GA.
Psychophysiology, 44, 343-351
Functional differentiation of dorsal (dACC) and rostral (rACC) anterior cingulate cortex for cognitive and emotional function has received considerable indirect support. Using fMRI, parallel tasks, and within-subject analysis, the present study directly tested the proposed specialization of ACC subdivisions. A Task x Region interaction confirmed more dACC activation during color-word distractors and more rACC activation during emotion-word distractors. Activity in ACC subdivisions differentially predicted behavioral performance. Connectivity with prefrontal and limbic regions also supported distinct dACC and rACC roles. Findings provide direct evidence for differential engagement of ACC subdivisions in cognitive and emotional processing and for differential functional connectivity in the implementation of cognitive control and emotion regulation. Results point to an anatomical and functional continuum rather than segregated operations.
Psychophysiology, 44, 343-351
Functional differentiation of dorsal (dACC) and rostral (rACC) anterior cingulate cortex for cognitive and emotional function has received considerable indirect support. Using fMRI, parallel tasks, and within-subject analysis, the present study directly tested the proposed specialization of ACC subdivisions. A Task x Region interaction confirmed more dACC activation during color-word distractors and more rACC activation during emotion-word distractors. Activity in ACC subdivisions differentially predicted behavioral performance. Connectivity with prefrontal and limbic regions also supported distinct dACC and rACC roles. Findings provide direct evidence for differential engagement of ACC subdivisions in cognitive and emotional processing and for differential functional connectivity in the implementation of cognitive control and emotion regulation. Results point to an anatomical and functional continuum rather than segregated operations.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Specificity of regional brain activity in anxiety types during emotion processing.
Engels AS, Heller W, Mohanty A, Herrington JD, Banich MT, Webb AG, Miller GA.
Psychophysiology, 44, 352-363.
The present study tested the hypothesis that anxious apprehension involves more left- than right-hemisphere activity and that anxious arousal is associated with the opposite pattern. Behavioral and fMRI responses to threat stimuli in an emotional Stroop task were examined in nonpatient groups reporting anxious apprehension, anxious arousal, or neither. Reaction times were longer for negative than for neutral words. As predicted, brain activation distinguished anxious groups in a left inferior frontal region associated with speech production and in a right-hemisphere inferior temporal area. Addressing a second hypothesis about left-frontal involvement in emotion, distinct left frontal regions were associated with anxious apprehension versus processing of positive information. Results support the proposed distinction between the two types of anxiety and resolve an inconsistency about the role of left-frontal activation in emotion and psychopathology.
Psychophysiology, 44, 352-363.
The present study tested the hypothesis that anxious apprehension involves more left- than right-hemisphere activity and that anxious arousal is associated with the opposite pattern. Behavioral and fMRI responses to threat stimuli in an emotional Stroop task were examined in nonpatient groups reporting anxious apprehension, anxious arousal, or neither. Reaction times were longer for negative than for neutral words. As predicted, brain activation distinguished anxious groups in a left inferior frontal region associated with speech production and in a right-hemisphere inferior temporal area. Addressing a second hypothesis about left-frontal involvement in emotion, distinct left frontal regions were associated with anxious apprehension versus processing of positive information. Results support the proposed distinction between the two types of anxiety and resolve an inconsistency about the role of left-frontal activation in emotion and psychopathology.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - Time course of attentional modulation on automatic emotional processing
Sonia Doallo, Fernando Cadaveira and Socorro RodrÃguez HolguÃn
Neuroscience Letters, in press
In a previous study using event-related potentials (ERPs) [S. Doallo, S. RodrÃguez HolguÃn, F. Cadaveira, Attentional load affects automatic emotional processing: evidence from event-related potentials, Neuroreport 17 (2006) 1797–1801], we reported that differential responses to unattended peripheral affective pictures, as reflected by N1-P2 modulations at posterior regions, are modulated by attentional load at fixation. Here, new analyses of these data were performed to evaluate whether a sustained, broadly distributed, negative shift in the unattended pictures ERP waveforms, which displayed larger amplitudes for emotional stimuli, reflects an additional differential response to the emotional content. Under low-load conditions, unpleasant (versus neutral) pictures elicited greater negativities in the 80–140 ms latency range over frontocentral sites and more centroparietally distributed from 200 to 280 ms. These findings provide further evidence of the time course of emotional processing at unattended locations and its modulation by attentional load.
Neuroscience Letters, in press
In a previous study using event-related potentials (ERPs) [S. Doallo, S. RodrÃguez HolguÃn, F. Cadaveira, Attentional load affects automatic emotional processing: evidence from event-related potentials, Neuroreport 17 (2006) 1797–1801], we reported that differential responses to unattended peripheral affective pictures, as reflected by N1-P2 modulations at posterior regions, are modulated by attentional load at fixation. Here, new analyses of these data were performed to evaluate whether a sustained, broadly distributed, negative shift in the unattended pictures ERP waveforms, which displayed larger amplitudes for emotional stimuli, reflects an additional differential response to the emotional content. Under low-load conditions, unpleasant (versus neutral) pictures elicited greater negativities in the 80–140 ms latency range over frontocentral sites and more centroparietally distributed from 200 to 280 ms. These findings provide further evidence of the time course of emotional processing at unattended locations and its modulation by attentional load.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Modulation of visual processing by attention and emotion: windows on causal interactions between human brain regions
Patrik Vuilleumier and Jon Driver
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, in press
Visual processing is not determined solely by retinal inputs. Attentional modulation can arise when the internal attentional state (current task) of the observer alters visual processing of the same stimuli. This can influence visual cortex, boosting neural responses to an attended stimulus. Emotional modulation can also arise, when affective properties (emotional significance) of stimuli, rather than their strictly visual properties, influence processing. This too can boost responses in visual cortex, as for fear-associated stimuli. Both attentional and emotional modulation of visual processing may reflect distant influences upon visual cortex, exerted by brain structures outside the visual system per se. Hence, these modulations may provide windows onto causal interactions between distant but interconnected brain regions. We review recent evidence, noting both similarities and differences between attentional and emotional modulation. Both can affect visual cortex, but can reflect influences from different regions, such as fronto-parietal circuits versus the amygdala. Recent work on this has developed new approaches for studying causal influences between human brain regions that may be useful in other cognitive domains. The new methods include application of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) measures in brain-damaged patients to study distant functional impacts of their focal lesions, and use of transcranial magnetic stimulation concurrently with fMRI or EEG in the normal brain. Cognitive neuroscience is now moving beyond considering the putative functions of particular brain regions, as if each operated in isolation, to consider, instead, how distinct brain regions (such as visual cortex, parietal or frontal regions, or amygdala) may mutually influence each other in a causal manner.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, in press
Visual processing is not determined solely by retinal inputs. Attentional modulation can arise when the internal attentional state (current task) of the observer alters visual processing of the same stimuli. This can influence visual cortex, boosting neural responses to an attended stimulus. Emotional modulation can also arise, when affective properties (emotional significance) of stimuli, rather than their strictly visual properties, influence processing. This too can boost responses in visual cortex, as for fear-associated stimuli. Both attentional and emotional modulation of visual processing may reflect distant influences upon visual cortex, exerted by brain structures outside the visual system per se. Hence, these modulations may provide windows onto causal interactions between distant but interconnected brain regions. We review recent evidence, noting both similarities and differences between attentional and emotional modulation. Both can affect visual cortex, but can reflect influences from different regions, such as fronto-parietal circuits versus the amygdala. Recent work on this has developed new approaches for studying causal influences between human brain regions that may be useful in other cognitive domains. The new methods include application of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) measures in brain-damaged patients to study distant functional impacts of their focal lesions, and use of transcranial magnetic stimulation concurrently with fMRI or EEG in the normal brain. Cognitive neuroscience is now moving beyond considering the putative functions of particular brain regions, as if each operated in isolation, to consider, instead, how distinct brain regions (such as visual cortex, parietal or frontal regions, or amygdala) may mutually influence each other in a causal manner.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Social concepts are represented in the superior anterior temporal cortex.
Roland Zahn, Jorge Moll, Frank Krueger, Edward D. Huey, Griselda Garrido, and Jordan Grafman
PNAS, in press
Social concepts such as "tactless" or "honorable" enable us to describe our own as well as others' social behaviors. The prevailing view is that this abstract social semantic knowledge is mainly subserved by the same medial prefrontal regions that are considered essential for mental state attribution and self-reflection. Nevertheless, neurodegeneration of the anterior temporal cortex typically leads to impairments of social behavior as well as general conceptual knowledge. By using functional MRI, we demonstrate that the anterior temporal lobe represents abstract social semantic knowledge in agreement with this patient evidence. The bilateral superior anterior temporal lobes (Brodmann's area 38) are selectively activated when participants judge the meaning relatedness of social concepts (e.g., honor-brave) as compared with concepts describing general animal functions (e.g., nutritious-useful). Remarkably, only activity in the superior anterior temporal cortex, but not the medial prefrontal cortex, correlates with the richness of detail with which social concepts describe social behavior. Furthermore, this anterior temporal lobe activation is independent of emotional valence, whereas medial prefrontal regions show enhanced activation for positive social concepts. Our results demonstrate that the superior anterior temporal cortex plays a key role in social cognition by providing abstract conceptual knowledge of social behaviors. We further speculate that these abstract conceptual representations can be associated with different contexts of social actions and emotions through integration with frontolimbic circuits to enable flexible evaluations of social behavior.
PNAS, in press
Social concepts such as "tactless" or "honorable" enable us to describe our own as well as others' social behaviors. The prevailing view is that this abstract social semantic knowledge is mainly subserved by the same medial prefrontal regions that are considered essential for mental state attribution and self-reflection. Nevertheless, neurodegeneration of the anterior temporal cortex typically leads to impairments of social behavior as well as general conceptual knowledge. By using functional MRI, we demonstrate that the anterior temporal lobe represents abstract social semantic knowledge in agreement with this patient evidence. The bilateral superior anterior temporal lobes (Brodmann's area 38) are selectively activated when participants judge the meaning relatedness of social concepts (e.g., honor-brave) as compared with concepts describing general animal functions (e.g., nutritious-useful). Remarkably, only activity in the superior anterior temporal cortex, but not the medial prefrontal cortex, correlates with the richness of detail with which social concepts describe social behavior. Furthermore, this anterior temporal lobe activation is independent of emotional valence, whereas medial prefrontal regions show enhanced activation for positive social concepts. Our results demonstrate that the superior anterior temporal cortex plays a key role in social cognition by providing abstract conceptual knowledge of social behaviors. We further speculate that these abstract conceptual representations can be associated with different contexts of social actions and emotions through integration with frontolimbic circuits to enable flexible evaluations of social behavior.
Friday, March 30, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - Repetition and Event-related Potentials: Distinguishing Early and Late Processes in Affective Picture Perception.
Codispoti M, Ferrari V, Bradley MM.
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19, 577-586
A repetition paradigm was used to assess the nature of affective modulation of early and late components of the event-related potential (ERP) during picture viewing. High-density ERPs were measured while participants passively viewed affective or neutral pictures that were repeated up to 90 times each. Both ERP components were modulated by emotional arousal, with ERPs elicited when viewing pleasant and unpleasant pictures different than when viewing neutral pictures. On the other hand, repetition had different effects on these two components. The early occipitotemporal component (150-300 msec) primarily showed a decrease in amplitude within a block of repetitions that did not differ as a function of picture content. The late centroparietal component (300-600 msec) showed a decrease both between and within blocks of repetitions, with neutral pictures eliciting no late positive potential in the final block of the study. The data suggest that the early ERP primarily reflects obligatory perceptual processing that is facilitated by active short-term memory representations, whereas the late ERP reflects increased resource allocation due to the motivational relevance of affective cues.
PMID: 17381249 [PubMed - in process]
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19, 577-586
A repetition paradigm was used to assess the nature of affective modulation of early and late components of the event-related potential (ERP) during picture viewing. High-density ERPs were measured while participants passively viewed affective or neutral pictures that were repeated up to 90 times each. Both ERP components were modulated by emotional arousal, with ERPs elicited when viewing pleasant and unpleasant pictures different than when viewing neutral pictures. On the other hand, repetition had different effects on these two components. The early occipitotemporal component (150-300 msec) primarily showed a decrease in amplitude within a block of repetitions that did not differ as a function of picture content. The late centroparietal component (300-600 msec) showed a decrease both between and within blocks of repetitions, with neutral pictures eliciting no late positive potential in the final block of the study. The data suggest that the early ERP primarily reflects obligatory perceptual processing that is facilitated by active short-term memory representations, whereas the late ERP reflects increased resource allocation due to the motivational relevance of affective cues.
PMID: 17381249 [PubMed - in process]
Thursday, March 29, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - Feeling the Real World: Limbic Response to Music Depends on Related Content
Eran Eldar, Ori Ganor, Roee Admon, Avraham Bleich and Talma Hendler
Cerebral Cortex, in press
Emotions are often object related—they are about someone or something in the world. It is yet an open question whether emotions and the associated perceptual contents that they refer to are processed by different parts of the brain or whether the brain regions that mediate emotions are also involved in the processing of the associated content they refer to. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we showed that simply combining music (rich in emotion but poor in information about the concrete world) with neutral films (poor in emotionality but rich in real-world details) yields increased activity in the amygdala, hippocampus, and lateral prefrontal regions. In contrast, emotional music on its own did not elicit a differential response in these regions. The finding that the amygdala, the heart of the emotional brain, responds increasingly to an emotional stimulus when it is associated with realistic scenes supports a fundamental role for concrete real-world content in emotional processing.
Cerebral Cortex, in press
Emotions are often object related—they are about someone or something in the world. It is yet an open question whether emotions and the associated perceptual contents that they refer to are processed by different parts of the brain or whether the brain regions that mediate emotions are also involved in the processing of the associated content they refer to. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we showed that simply combining music (rich in emotion but poor in information about the concrete world) with neutral films (poor in emotionality but rich in real-world details) yields increased activity in the amygdala, hippocampus, and lateral prefrontal regions. In contrast, emotional music on its own did not elicit a differential response in these regions. The finding that the amygdala, the heart of the emotional brain, responds increasingly to an emotional stimulus when it is associated with realistic scenes supports a fundamental role for concrete real-world content in emotional processing.
Friday, March 23, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - Imitating expressions: emotion-specific neural substrates in facial mimicry
Lee TW, Josephs O, Dolan RJ, Critchley HD.
Social Cognitive Affective Neuroscience, 1, 122-135.
Intentionally adopting a discrete emotional facial expression can modulate the subjective feelings corresponding to that emotion; however, the underlying neural mechanism is poorly understood. We therefore used functional brain imaging (functional magnetic resonance imaging) to examine brain activity during intentional mimicry of emotional and non-emotional facial expressions and relate regional responses to the magnitude of expression-induced facial movement. Eighteen healthy subjects were scanned while imitating video clips depicting three emotional (sad, angry, happy), and two ‘ingestive’ (chewing and licking) facial expressions. Simultaneously, facial movement was monitored from displacement of fiducial markers (highly reflective dots) on each subject’s face. Imitating emotional expressions enhanced activity within right inferior prefrontal cortex. This pattern was absent during passive viewing conditions. Moreover, the magnitude of facial movement during emotion-imitation predicted responses within right insula and motor/premotor cortices. Enhanced activity in ventromedial prefrontal cortex and frontal pole was observed during imitation of anger, in ventromedial prefrontal and rostral anterior cingulate during imitation of sadness and in striatal, amygdala and occipitotemporal during imitation of happiness. Our findings suggest a central role for right inferior frontal gyrus in the intentional imitation of emotional expressions. Further, by entering metrics for facial muscular change into analysis of brain imaging data, we highlight shared and discrete neural substrates supporting affective, action and social consequences of somatomotor emotional expression.
Social Cognitive Affective Neuroscience, 1, 122-135.
Intentionally adopting a discrete emotional facial expression can modulate the subjective feelings corresponding to that emotion; however, the underlying neural mechanism is poorly understood. We therefore used functional brain imaging (functional magnetic resonance imaging) to examine brain activity during intentional mimicry of emotional and non-emotional facial expressions and relate regional responses to the magnitude of expression-induced facial movement. Eighteen healthy subjects were scanned while imitating video clips depicting three emotional (sad, angry, happy), and two ‘ingestive’ (chewing and licking) facial expressions. Simultaneously, facial movement was monitored from displacement of fiducial markers (highly reflective dots) on each subject’s face. Imitating emotional expressions enhanced activity within right inferior prefrontal cortex. This pattern was absent during passive viewing conditions. Moreover, the magnitude of facial movement during emotion-imitation predicted responses within right insula and motor/premotor cortices. Enhanced activity in ventromedial prefrontal cortex and frontal pole was observed during imitation of anger, in ventromedial prefrontal and rostral anterior cingulate during imitation of sadness and in striatal, amygdala and occipitotemporal during imitation of happiness. Our findings suggest a central role for right inferior frontal gyrus in the intentional imitation of emotional expressions. Further, by entering metrics for facial muscular change into analysis of brain imaging data, we highlight shared and discrete neural substrates supporting affective, action and social consequences of somatomotor emotional expression.
ARTICLE UPDATE - The role of the amygdala in visual awareness.
Duncan S, Barrett LF.
Trends in Cognitive Sciences, in press
Pessoa and colleagues recently reported the novel finding that objective awareness of a negative stimulus is associated with coactivation of the amygdala and fusiform gyrus. Based on the neuroanatomical connections of the amygdala, we suggest that the amygdala is acting to increase neural activity in the fusiform gyrus, thereby increasing the likelihood that visual representations that have affective value reach awareness. The psychological consequence is that a person's momentary affective state might help to select the contents of conscious experience.
Trends in Cognitive Sciences, in press
Pessoa and colleagues recently reported the novel finding that objective awareness of a negative stimulus is associated with coactivation of the amygdala and fusiform gyrus. Based on the neuroanatomical connections of the amygdala, we suggest that the amygdala is acting to increase neural activity in the fusiform gyrus, thereby increasing the likelihood that visual representations that have affective value reach awareness. The psychological consequence is that a person's momentary affective state might help to select the contents of conscious experience.
ARTICLE UPDATE - The neural mechanism of imagining facial affective expression.
Kim SE, Kim JW, Kim JJ, Jeong BS, Choi EA, Jeong YG, Kim JH, Ku J, Ki SW.
Brain Research, in press
To react appropriately in social relationships, we have a tendency to simulate how others think of us through mental imagery. In particular, simulating other people's facial affective expressions through imagery in social situations enables us to enact vivid affective responses, which may be inducible from other people's affective responses that are predicted as results of our mental imagery of future behaviors. Therefore, this ability is an important cognitive feature of diverse advanced social cognition in humans. We used functional magnetic imaging to examine brain activation during the imagery of emotional facial expressions as compared to neutral facial expressions. Twenty-one right-handed subjects participated in this study. We observed the activation of the amygdala during the imagining of emotional facial affect versus the imagining of neutral facial affects. In addition, we also observed the activation of several areas of the brain, including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, ventral premotor cortex, superior temporal sulcus, parahippocampal gyrus, lingual gyrus, and the midbrain. Our results suggest that the areas of the brain known to be involved in the actual perception of affective facial expressions are also implicated in the imagery of affective facial expressions. In particular, given that the processing of information concerning the facial patterning of different emotions and the enactment of behavioral responses, such as autonomic arousal, are central components of the imagery of emotional facial expressions, we postulate the central role of the amygdala in the imagery of emotional facial expressions.
Brain Research, in press
To react appropriately in social relationships, we have a tendency to simulate how others think of us through mental imagery. In particular, simulating other people's facial affective expressions through imagery in social situations enables us to enact vivid affective responses, which may be inducible from other people's affective responses that are predicted as results of our mental imagery of future behaviors. Therefore, this ability is an important cognitive feature of diverse advanced social cognition in humans. We used functional magnetic imaging to examine brain activation during the imagery of emotional facial expressions as compared to neutral facial expressions. Twenty-one right-handed subjects participated in this study. We observed the activation of the amygdala during the imagining of emotional facial affect versus the imagining of neutral facial affects. In addition, we also observed the activation of several areas of the brain, including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, ventral premotor cortex, superior temporal sulcus, parahippocampal gyrus, lingual gyrus, and the midbrain. Our results suggest that the areas of the brain known to be involved in the actual perception of affective facial expressions are also implicated in the imagery of affective facial expressions. In particular, given that the processing of information concerning the facial patterning of different emotions and the enactment of behavioral responses, such as autonomic arousal, are central components of the imagery of emotional facial expressions, we postulate the central role of the amygdala in the imagery of emotional facial expressions.
Friday, March 16, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - Learning fears by observing others: the neural systems of social fear transmission
Andreas Olsson, Katherine I. Nearing and Elizabeth A. Phelps
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, in press
Classical fear conditioning has been used as a model paradigm to explain fear learning across species. In this paradigm, the amygdala is known to play a critical role. However, classical fear conditioning requires first-hand experience with an aversive event, which may not be how most fears are acquired in humans. It remains to be determined whether the conditioning model can be extended to indirect forms of learning more common in humans. Here we show that fear acquired indirectly through social observation, with no personal experience of the aversive event, engages similar neural mechanisms as fear conditioning. The amygdala was recruited both when subjects observed someone else being submitted to an aversive event, knowing that the same treatment awaited themselves, and when subjects were subsequently placed in an analogous situation. These findings confirm the central role of the amygdala in the acquisition and expression of observational fear learning, and validate the extension of cross-species models of fear conditioning to learning in a human sociocultural context. Our findings also provides new insights into the relationship between learning from, and empathizing with, fearful others. This study suggests that indirectly attained fears may be as powerful as fears originating from direct experiences.
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, in press
Classical fear conditioning has been used as a model paradigm to explain fear learning across species. In this paradigm, the amygdala is known to play a critical role. However, classical fear conditioning requires first-hand experience with an aversive event, which may not be how most fears are acquired in humans. It remains to be determined whether the conditioning model can be extended to indirect forms of learning more common in humans. Here we show that fear acquired indirectly through social observation, with no personal experience of the aversive event, engages similar neural mechanisms as fear conditioning. The amygdala was recruited both when subjects observed someone else being submitted to an aversive event, knowing that the same treatment awaited themselves, and when subjects were subsequently placed in an analogous situation. These findings confirm the central role of the amygdala in the acquisition and expression of observational fear learning, and validate the extension of cross-species models of fear conditioning to learning in a human sociocultural context. Our findings also provides new insights into the relationship between learning from, and empathizing with, fearful others. This study suggests that indirectly attained fears may be as powerful as fears originating from direct experiences.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - When Danger Lurks in the Background: Attentional Capture by Animal Fear-Relevant Distractors Is Specific and Selectively Enhanced by
Lipp, Ottmar V.; Waters, Allison M.
Emotion, 7, 192-200.
Across 2 experiments, a new experimental procedure was used to investigate attentional capture by animal fear-relevant stimuli. In Experiment 1 (N = 34), unselected participants were slower to detect a neutral target animal in the presence of a spider than a cockroach distractor and in the presence of a snake than a large lizard distractor. This result confirms that phylogenetically fear-relevant animals capture attention specifically and to a larger extent than do non-fear-relevant animals. In Experiment 2 (N = 86), detection of a neutral target animal was slowed more in the presence of a feared fear-relevant distractor (e.g., a snake for snake-fearful participants) than in presence of a not-feared fear-relevant distractor (e.g., a spider for snake-fearful participants). These results indicate preferential attentional capture that is specific to phylogenetically fear-relevant stimuli and is selectively enhanced in individuals who fear these animals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved)
Emotion, 7, 192-200.
Across 2 experiments, a new experimental procedure was used to investigate attentional capture by animal fear-relevant stimuli. In Experiment 1 (N = 34), unselected participants were slower to detect a neutral target animal in the presence of a spider than a cockroach distractor and in the presence of a snake than a large lizard distractor. This result confirms that phylogenetically fear-relevant animals capture attention specifically and to a larger extent than do non-fear-relevant animals. In Experiment 2 (N = 86), detection of a neutral target animal was slowed more in the presence of a feared fear-relevant distractor (e.g., a snake for snake-fearful participants) than in presence of a not-feared fear-relevant distractor (e.g., a spider for snake-fearful participants). These results indicate preferential attentional capture that is specific to phylogenetically fear-relevant stimuli and is selectively enhanced in individuals who fear these animals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved)
ARTICLE UPDATE - Distinguishing Between Automaticity and Attention in the Processing of Emotionally Significant Stimuli.
Okon-Singer, Hadas; Tzelgov, Joseph; Henik, Avishai
Emotion, 7, 147-157.
There is contradicting evidence as to whether irrelevant but significant emotional stimuli can be processed outside the focus of attention. In the current study, participants were asked to ignore emotional and neutral pictures while performing a competing task. In Experiment 1, orienting of attention to distracting pictures was manipulated via a peripheral cue. In Experiment 2, attentional load was varied, either leaving spare attention to process the distracting pictures or, alternatively, depleting attentional resources. Although all pictures were task irrelevant, negative pictures were found to interfere more with performance in comparison to neutral pictures. This finding suggests that processing of negative stimuli is automatic in the sense that it does not require execution of conscious monitoring. However, interference occurred only when sufficient attention was available for picture processing. Hence, processing of negative pictures was dependent on sufficient attentional resources. This suggests that processing of emotionally significant stimuli is automatic yet requires attention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved)
Emotion, 7, 147-157.
There is contradicting evidence as to whether irrelevant but significant emotional stimuli can be processed outside the focus of attention. In the current study, participants were asked to ignore emotional and neutral pictures while performing a competing task. In Experiment 1, orienting of attention to distracting pictures was manipulated via a peripheral cue. In Experiment 2, attentional load was varied, either leaving spare attention to process the distracting pictures or, alternatively, depleting attentional resources. Although all pictures were task irrelevant, negative pictures were found to interfere more with performance in comparison to neutral pictures. This finding suggests that processing of negative stimuli is automatic in the sense that it does not require execution of conscious monitoring. However, interference occurred only when sufficient attention was available for picture processing. Hence, processing of negative pictures was dependent on sufficient attentional resources. This suggests that processing of emotionally significant stimuli is automatic yet requires attention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved)
ARTICLE UPDATE - The Role of Attention and Relatedness in Emotionally Enhanced Memory.
Talmi, Deborah; Schimmack, Ulrich; Paterson, Theone; Moscovitch, Morris
Emotion, 7, 89-102.
Examining the positive and negative pictures separately revealed that emotionally enhanced memory (EEM) for positive pictures was mediated by attention, with no significant influence of emotional arousal, whereas the reverse was true of negative pictures. Consistent with this finding, in Experiment 2 EEM for negative pictures was found even when task emphasis was manipulated so that equivalent attention was allocated to negative and neutral pictures. The results show that attention and semantic relatedness contribute to EEM, with the extent varying with emotional valence. Negative emotion can influence memory independently of these 2 factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved)
Emotion, 7, 89-102.
Examining the positive and negative pictures separately revealed that emotionally enhanced memory (EEM) for positive pictures was mediated by attention, with no significant influence of emotional arousal, whereas the reverse was true of negative pictures. Consistent with this finding, in Experiment 2 EEM for negative pictures was found even when task emphasis was manipulated so that equivalent attention was allocated to negative and neutral pictures. The results show that attention and semantic relatedness contribute to EEM, with the extent varying with emotional valence. Negative emotion can influence memory independently of these 2 factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved)
ARTICLE UPDATE - Inhibition of Return to Social Signals of Fear.
Stoyanova, Raliza S.; Pratt, Jay; Anderson, Adam K.
Emotion, 7, 49-56.
The present study examined whether inhibition of return (IOR) is modulated by the fear relevance of the cue. Experiment 1 found similar magnitude of IOR was produced by neutral and fear faces and luminance matched cues. To allow a more sensitive measure of endogenously directed attention, Experiment 2 removed a central reorienting cue and more precisely measured the time course of IOR. At stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) of 500, 1,000 and 1,500 ms, fear face and luminance matched cues resulted in similar IOR. These findings suggest that IOR is triggered by event onsets and disregards event value. Views of IOR as an adaptive "foraging facilitator," whereby attention is guided to promote optimal sampling of important environmental events, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved)
Emotion, 7, 49-56.
The present study examined whether inhibition of return (IOR) is modulated by the fear relevance of the cue. Experiment 1 found similar magnitude of IOR was produced by neutral and fear faces and luminance matched cues. To allow a more sensitive measure of endogenously directed attention, Experiment 2 removed a central reorienting cue and more precisely measured the time course of IOR. At stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) of 500, 1,000 and 1,500 ms, fear face and luminance matched cues resulted in similar IOR. These findings suggest that IOR is triggered by event onsets and disregards event value. Views of IOR as an adaptive "foraging facilitator," whereby attention is guided to promote optimal sampling of important environmental events, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved)
Friday, March 09, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - Reward expectancy-related prefrontal neuronal activities: are they neural substrates of "affective" working memory?
Watanabe M, Hikosaka K, Sakagami M, Shirakawa S.
Cortex, 43, 53-64
Primate prefrontal delay neurons are involved in retaining task-relevant cognitive information in working memory (WM). Recent studies have also revealed primate prefrontal delay neurons that are related to reward/omission-of-reward expectancy. Such reward-related delay activities might constitute "affective WM" (Davidson, 2002). "Affective" and "cognitive" WM are both concerned with representing not what is currently being presented, but rather what was presented previously or might be presented in the future. However, according to the original and widely accepted definition, WM is the "temporary storage and manipulation of information for complex cognitive tasks". Reward/omission-of-reward expectancy-related neuronal activity is neither prerequisite nor essential for accurate task performance; thus, such activity is not considered to comprise the neural substrates of WM. Also, "affective WM" might not be an appropriate usage of the term "WM". We propose that WM- and reward/omission-of-reward expectancy-related neuronal activity are concerned with representing which response should be performed in order to attain a goal (reward) and the goal of the response, respectively. We further suggest that the prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays a crucial role in the integration of cognitive (for example, WM-related) and motivational (for example, reward expectancy-related) operations for goal-directed behaviour. The PFC could then send this integrated information to other brain areas to control the behaviour.
Cortex, 43, 53-64
Primate prefrontal delay neurons are involved in retaining task-relevant cognitive information in working memory (WM). Recent studies have also revealed primate prefrontal delay neurons that are related to reward/omission-of-reward expectancy. Such reward-related delay activities might constitute "affective WM" (Davidson, 2002). "Affective" and "cognitive" WM are both concerned with representing not what is currently being presented, but rather what was presented previously or might be presented in the future. However, according to the original and widely accepted definition, WM is the "temporary storage and manipulation of information for complex cognitive tasks". Reward/omission-of-reward expectancy-related neuronal activity is neither prerequisite nor essential for accurate task performance; thus, such activity is not considered to comprise the neural substrates of WM. Also, "affective WM" might not be an appropriate usage of the term "WM". We propose that WM- and reward/omission-of-reward expectancy-related neuronal activity are concerned with representing which response should be performed in order to attain a goal (reward) and the goal of the response, respectively. We further suggest that the prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays a crucial role in the integration of cognitive (for example, WM-related) and motivational (for example, reward expectancy-related) operations for goal-directed behaviour. The PFC could then send this integrated information to other brain areas to control the behaviour.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Affective priming of nonaffective semantic categorization responses.
Spruyt A, De Houwer J, Hermans D, Eelen P.
Experimental Psychology, 54, 44-53
Recent studies have shown that robust affective priming effects can be obtained when participants are required to categorize the targets on the basis of their valence, but not when participants are asked to categorize the targets on the basis of nonaffective features. On the basis of this pattern of results, it has been argued that affective priming is due to processes that operate at a response selection stage rather than to processes that operate at an encoding stage. We demonstrate (a) that affective priming of nonaffective semantic categorization responses can be obtained when participants assign attention to the affective stimulus dimension, and (b) that affective priming in the standard evaluative categorization task is strongly reduced when participants assign attention to nonaffective stimulus features. On the basis of these findings, we argue (a) that processes operating at an encoding stage do contribute to the affective priming effect, and (b) that automatic affective stimulus processing is reduced when participants selectively attend to nonaffective stimulus features.
Experimental Psychology, 54, 44-53
Recent studies have shown that robust affective priming effects can be obtained when participants are required to categorize the targets on the basis of their valence, but not when participants are asked to categorize the targets on the basis of nonaffective features. On the basis of this pattern of results, it has been argued that affective priming is due to processes that operate at a response selection stage rather than to processes that operate at an encoding stage. We demonstrate (a) that affective priming of nonaffective semantic categorization responses can be obtained when participants assign attention to the affective stimulus dimension, and (b) that affective priming in the standard evaluative categorization task is strongly reduced when participants assign attention to nonaffective stimulus features. On the basis of these findings, we argue (a) that processes operating at an encoding stage do contribute to the affective priming effect, and (b) that automatic affective stimulus processing is reduced when participants selectively attend to nonaffective stimulus features.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Seeing fearful body language overcomes attentional deficits in patients with neglect.Tamietto M, Geminiani G, Genero R, de Gelder B.
Tamietto M, Geminiani G, Genero R, de Gelder B.
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19, 445-454
Survival depends to some extent on the ability to detect salient signals and prepare an appropriate response even when attention is engaged elsewhere. Fearful body language is a salient signal of imminent danger, easily observable from a distance and indicating to the observer which adaptive action to prepare for. Here we investigated for the first time whether fearful body language modulates the spatial distribution of attention and enhances visual awareness in neurological patients with severe attentional disorders. Patients with visual extinction and hemispatial neglect following right parietal injury have a rightward attentional bias accompanied by loss of awareness for contralesional left stimuli, especially when competing stimuli appear to the right. Three such patients were tested with pictures of fearful, happy, and neutral bodily expressions briefly presented either unilaterally in the left or right visual field, or to both fields simultaneously. On bilateral trials, unattended and task-irrelevant fearful bodily expressions modulated attentional selection and visual awareness. Fearful bodily expressions presented in the contralesional unattended visual field simultaneously with neutral bodies in the ipsilesional field were detected more often than left-side neutral or happy bodies. This demonstrates that despite pathological inattention and parietal damage, emotion and action-related information in fearful body language may be extracted automatically, biasing attentional selection and visual awareness. Our findings open new perspectives on the role of bodily expressions in attentional selection and suggest that a neural network in intact fronto-limbic and visual areas may still mediate reorienting of attention and preparation for action upon perceiving fear in others.
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19, 445-454
Survival depends to some extent on the ability to detect salient signals and prepare an appropriate response even when attention is engaged elsewhere. Fearful body language is a salient signal of imminent danger, easily observable from a distance and indicating to the observer which adaptive action to prepare for. Here we investigated for the first time whether fearful body language modulates the spatial distribution of attention and enhances visual awareness in neurological patients with severe attentional disorders. Patients with visual extinction and hemispatial neglect following right parietal injury have a rightward attentional bias accompanied by loss of awareness for contralesional left stimuli, especially when competing stimuli appear to the right. Three such patients were tested with pictures of fearful, happy, and neutral bodily expressions briefly presented either unilaterally in the left or right visual field, or to both fields simultaneously. On bilateral trials, unattended and task-irrelevant fearful bodily expressions modulated attentional selection and visual awareness. Fearful bodily expressions presented in the contralesional unattended visual field simultaneously with neutral bodies in the ipsilesional field were detected more often than left-side neutral or happy bodies. This demonstrates that despite pathological inattention and parietal damage, emotion and action-related information in fearful body language may be extracted automatically, biasing attentional selection and visual awareness. Our findings open new perspectives on the role of bodily expressions in attentional selection and suggest that a neural network in intact fronto-limbic and visual areas may still mediate reorienting of attention and preparation for action upon perceiving fear in others.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Role of anticipated reward in cognitive behavioral control
Masataka Watanabe
Current Opinion in Neurobiology, in press
The lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC), which is important for higher cognitive activity, is also concerned with motivational operations; this is exemplified by its activity in relation to expectancy of rewards. In the LPFC, motivational information is integrated with cognitive information, as demonstrated by the enhancement of working-memory-related activity by reward expectancy. Such activity would be expected to induce changes in attention and, subsequently, to modify behavioral performance. Recently, the effects of motivation and emotion on neural activities have been examined in several areas of the brain in relation to cognitive-task performance. Of these areas, the LPFC seems to have the most important role in adaptive goal-directed behavior, by sending top-down attention-control signals to other areas of the brain.
Current Opinion in Neurobiology, in press
The lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC), which is important for higher cognitive activity, is also concerned with motivational operations; this is exemplified by its activity in relation to expectancy of rewards. In the LPFC, motivational information is integrated with cognitive information, as demonstrated by the enhancement of working-memory-related activity by reward expectancy. Such activity would be expected to induce changes in attention and, subsequently, to modify behavioral performance. Recently, the effects of motivation and emotion on neural activities have been examined in several areas of the brain in relation to cognitive-task performance. Of these areas, the LPFC seems to have the most important role in adaptive goal-directed behavior, by sending top-down attention-control signals to other areas of the brain.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Contrasting roles for cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex in decisions and social behaviour.
.F.S. Rushworth, T.E.J. Behrens, P.H. Rudebeck and M.E. Walton
Trends in Cognitive Sciences, in press
There is general acknowledgement that both the anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex are implicated in reinforcement-guided decision making, and emotion and social behaviour. Despite the interest that these areas generate in both the cognitive neuroscience laboratory and the psychiatric clinic, ideas about the distinctive contributions made by each have only recently begun to emerge. This reflects an increasing understanding of the component processes that underlie reinforcement-guided decision making, such as the representation of reinforcement expectations, the exploration, updating and representation of action values, and the appreciation that choices are guided not just by the prospect of reward but also by the costs that action entails. Evidence is emerging to suggest that the anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex make distinct contributions to each of these aspects of decision making.
Trends in Cognitive Sciences, in press
There is general acknowledgement that both the anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex are implicated in reinforcement-guided decision making, and emotion and social behaviour. Despite the interest that these areas generate in both the cognitive neuroscience laboratory and the psychiatric clinic, ideas about the distinctive contributions made by each have only recently begun to emerge. This reflects an increasing understanding of the component processes that underlie reinforcement-guided decision making, such as the representation of reinforcement expectations, the exploration, updating and representation of action values, and the appreciation that choices are guided not just by the prospect of reward but also by the costs that action entails. Evidence is emerging to suggest that the anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex make distinct contributions to each of these aspects of decision making.
Friday, March 02, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - As Time Goes By: Temporal Constraints on Emotional Activation of Inferior Medial Prefrontal Cortex
Jacob Geday, Ron Kupers and Albert Gjedde
Cerebral Cortex, in press
To investigate the influence of stimulus duration on emotional processing, we measured changes of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in 14 healthy subjects who viewed neutral or emotional images presented for 3 or 6 s. Presentation for 3 s reproduced the previous result of higher rCBF in inferior medial prefrontal cortex (IMPC) during neutral than emotional stimulation. Six-second presentation reverted this relationship, with activity in IMPC being higher during emotional stimulation. Prolonged stimulus presentation attenuated the rise of rCBF associated with emotions in left parietal cortex and cerebellar hemisphere. We speculate that the different rCBF during neutral and emotional stimulation for 6 s is a consequence of attention divided between the emotional stimuli and their associations. Thus, prefrontal activity rises when a cognitive task accompanies emotional stimulation because several cognitive processes compete for attention. The IMPC may serve the mechanism of attention underlying the concept of a default mode of brain function, selecting among competitive inputs from multiple brain regions rather than just processing emotions. The results emphasize the importance of implicit cognitive processing during emotional activation, however, unintended.
Cerebral Cortex, in press
To investigate the influence of stimulus duration on emotional processing, we measured changes of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in 14 healthy subjects who viewed neutral or emotional images presented for 3 or 6 s. Presentation for 3 s reproduced the previous result of higher rCBF in inferior medial prefrontal cortex (IMPC) during neutral than emotional stimulation. Six-second presentation reverted this relationship, with activity in IMPC being higher during emotional stimulation. Prolonged stimulus presentation attenuated the rise of rCBF associated with emotions in left parietal cortex and cerebellar hemisphere. We speculate that the different rCBF during neutral and emotional stimulation for 6 s is a consequence of attention divided between the emotional stimuli and their associations. Thus, prefrontal activity rises when a cognitive task accompanies emotional stimulation because several cognitive processes compete for attention. The IMPC may serve the mechanism of attention underlying the concept of a default mode of brain function, selecting among competitive inputs from multiple brain regions rather than just processing emotions. The results emphasize the importance of implicit cognitive processing during emotional activation, however, unintended.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Event-related potential study of attention capture by affective sounds.
Thierry G, Roberts MV.
NeuroReport, 18, 245-248
Affective pictures trigger attentional responses in humans but very little is known about the processing of affective environmental sounds. Here, we used an oddball event-related potential paradigm to determine the saliency of unpleasant sounds presented among affectively neutral sounds. Participants performed a one-back task while listening to pseudo-randomized sound sequences comprising 70% neutral sounds, 15% unpleasant sounds of matched peak intensity, and 15% louder neutral sounds. Louder neutral sounds elicited a larger N1 component and a significant P3a variation with a central distribution. Unpleasant sounds did not affect early components but elicited a significant frontocentral P3a modulation. We conclude that affective environmental sounds spontaneously capture human attention but fail to modulate early perceptual processing when sound peak intensity is controlled.
NeuroReport, 18, 245-248
Affective pictures trigger attentional responses in humans but very little is known about the processing of affective environmental sounds. Here, we used an oddball event-related potential paradigm to determine the saliency of unpleasant sounds presented among affectively neutral sounds. Participants performed a one-back task while listening to pseudo-randomized sound sequences comprising 70% neutral sounds, 15% unpleasant sounds of matched peak intensity, and 15% louder neutral sounds. Louder neutral sounds elicited a larger N1 component and a significant P3a variation with a central distribution. Unpleasant sounds did not affect early components but elicited a significant frontocentral P3a modulation. We conclude that affective environmental sounds spontaneously capture human attention but fail to modulate early perceptual processing when sound peak intensity is controlled.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Enhancement of activity of the primary visual cortex during processing of emotional stimuli as measured with event-related functional
Martin J. Herrmann, Theresa Huter, Michael Plichta, Ann-Christine Ehlis, Georg W. Alpers, Andreas Mühlberger, Andreas J. Fallgatter
Human Brain Mapping, in press
In this study we investigated whether event-related near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is suitable to measure changes in brain activation of the occipital cortex modulated by the emotional content of the visual stimuli. As we found in a previous pilot study that only positive but not negative stimuli differ from neutral stimuli (with respect to oxygenated haemoglobin), we now measured the event-related EEG potentials and NIRS simultaneously during the same session. Thereby, we could evaluate whether the subjects (n = 16) processed the positive as well as the negative emotional stimuli in a similar way. During the task, the subjects passively viewed positive, negative, and neutral emotional pictures (40 presentations were shown in each category, and pictures were taken from the International Affective Picture System, IAPS). The stimuli were presented for 3 s in a randomized order (with a mean of 3 s interstimulus interval). During the task, we measured the event-related EEG potentials over the electrode positions O1, Oz, O2, and Pz and the changes of oxygenated and deoxygenated haemoglobin by multichannel NIRS over the occipital cortex. The EEG results clearly show an increased early posterior negativity over the occipital cortex for both positive as well as negative stimuli compared to neutral. The results for the NIRS measurement were less clear. Although positive as well as negative stimuli lead to significantly higher decrease in deoxygenated haemoglobin than neutral stimuli, this was not found for the oxygenated haemoglobin.
Human Brain Mapping, in press
In this study we investigated whether event-related near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is suitable to measure changes in brain activation of the occipital cortex modulated by the emotional content of the visual stimuli. As we found in a previous pilot study that only positive but not negative stimuli differ from neutral stimuli (with respect to oxygenated haemoglobin), we now measured the event-related EEG potentials and NIRS simultaneously during the same session. Thereby, we could evaluate whether the subjects (n = 16) processed the positive as well as the negative emotional stimuli in a similar way. During the task, the subjects passively viewed positive, negative, and neutral emotional pictures (40 presentations were shown in each category, and pictures were taken from the International Affective Picture System, IAPS). The stimuli were presented for 3 s in a randomized order (with a mean of 3 s interstimulus interval). During the task, we measured the event-related EEG potentials over the electrode positions O1, Oz, O2, and Pz and the changes of oxygenated and deoxygenated haemoglobin by multichannel NIRS over the occipital cortex. The EEG results clearly show an increased early posterior negativity over the occipital cortex for both positive as well as negative stimuli compared to neutral. The results for the NIRS measurement were less clear. Although positive as well as negative stimuli lead to significantly higher decrease in deoxygenated haemoglobin than neutral stimuli, this was not found for the oxygenated haemoglobin.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Reduced specificity of autobiographical memory and depression: the role of executive control.
Dalgleish T, Golden AM, Barrett LF, Au Yeung C, Murphy V, Tchanturia K, Williams JM, Perkins N, Barnard PJ, Elward R, Watkins E.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 136, 23-42.
It has been widely established that depressed mood states and clinical depression, as well as a range of other psychiatric disorders, are associated with a relative difficulty in accessing specific autobiographical information in response to emotion-related cue words on an Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT; J. M. G. Williams & K. Broadbent, 1986). In 8 studies the authors examined the extent to which this relationship is a function of impaired executive control associated with these mood states and clinical disorders. Studies 1-4 demonstrated that performance on the AMT is associated with performance on measures of executive control, independent of depressed mood. Furthermore, Study 1 showed that executive control (as measured by verbal fluency) mediated the relationship between both depressed mood and a clinical diagnosis of eating disorder and AMT performance. Using a stratified sample in Study 5, the authors confirmed the positive association between depressed mood and impaired performance on the AMT. Studies 6-8 involved experimental manipulations of the parameters of the AMT designed to further indicate that reduced executive control is to a significant extent driving the relationship between depressed mood and AMT performance. The potential role of executive control in accounting for other aspects of the AMT literature is discussed.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 136, 23-42.
It has been widely established that depressed mood states and clinical depression, as well as a range of other psychiatric disorders, are associated with a relative difficulty in accessing specific autobiographical information in response to emotion-related cue words on an Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT; J. M. G. Williams & K. Broadbent, 1986). In 8 studies the authors examined the extent to which this relationship is a function of impaired executive control associated with these mood states and clinical disorders. Studies 1-4 demonstrated that performance on the AMT is associated with performance on measures of executive control, independent of depressed mood. Furthermore, Study 1 showed that executive control (as measured by verbal fluency) mediated the relationship between both depressed mood and a clinical diagnosis of eating disorder and AMT performance. Using a stratified sample in Study 5, the authors confirmed the positive association between depressed mood and impaired performance on the AMT. Studies 6-8 involved experimental manipulations of the parameters of the AMT designed to further indicate that reduced executive control is to a significant extent driving the relationship between depressed mood and AMT performance. The potential role of executive control in accounting for other aspects of the AMT literature is discussed.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Emotion and consciousness
Tsuchiya N, Adolphs R.
Trends in Cognitive Sciences, in press
Consciousness and emotion feature prominently in our personal lives, yet remain enigmatic. Recent advances prompt further distinctions that should provide more experimental traction: we argue that emotion consists of an emotion state (functional aspects, including emotional response) as well as feelings (the conscious experience of the emotion), and that consciousness consists of level (e.g. coma, vegetative state and wakefulness) and content (what it is we are conscious of). Not only is consciousness important to aspects of emotion but structures that are important for emotion, such as brainstem nuclei and midline cortices, overlap with structures that regulate the level of consciousness. The intersection of consciousness and emotion is ripe for experimental investigation, and we outline possible examples for future studies.
Trends in Cognitive Sciences, in press
Consciousness and emotion feature prominently in our personal lives, yet remain enigmatic. Recent advances prompt further distinctions that should provide more experimental traction: we argue that emotion consists of an emotion state (functional aspects, including emotional response) as well as feelings (the conscious experience of the emotion), and that consciousness consists of level (e.g. coma, vegetative state and wakefulness) and content (what it is we are conscious of). Not only is consciousness important to aspects of emotion but structures that are important for emotion, such as brainstem nuclei and midline cortices, overlap with structures that regulate the level of consciousness. The intersection of consciousness and emotion is ripe for experimental investigation, and we outline possible examples for future studies.
ARTICLE UPDATE - Emotion recognition from dynamic emotional displays following anterior cingulotomy and anterior capsulotomy for chronic depression
Nathan Ridout, Ronan E. O’Carroll, Barbara Dritschel, David Christmasd, Muftah Eljamel and Keith Matthews
Neuropsychologia, in press
Four patients that had received an anterior cingulotomy (ACING) and five patients that had received both an ACING and an anterior capsulotomy (ACAPS) as an intervention for chronic, treatment refractory depression were presented with a series of dynamic emotional stimuli and invited to identify the emotion portrayed. Their performance was compared with that of a group of non-surgically treated patients with major depression (n = 17) and with a group of matched, never-depressed controls (n = 22). At the time of testing, four of the nine neurosurgery patients had recovered from their depressive episode, whereas five remained depressed. Analysis of emotion recognition accuracy revealed no significant differences between depressed and non-depressed neurosurgically treated patients. Similarly, no significant differences were observed between the patients treated with ACING alone and those treated with both ACING and ACAPS. Comparison of the emotion recognition accuracy of the neurosurgically treated patients and the depressed and healthy control groups revealed that the surgically treated patients exhibited a general impairment in their recognition accuracy compared to healthy controls. Regression analysis revealed that participants’ emotion recognition accuracy was predicted by the number of errors they made on the Stroop colour-naming task. It is plausible that the observed deficit in emotion recognition accuracy was a consequence of impaired attentional control, which may have been a result of the surgical lesions to the anterior cingulate cortex.
Neuropsychologia, in press
Four patients that had received an anterior cingulotomy (ACING) and five patients that had received both an ACING and an anterior capsulotomy (ACAPS) as an intervention for chronic, treatment refractory depression were presented with a series of dynamic emotional stimuli and invited to identify the emotion portrayed. Their performance was compared with that of a group of non-surgically treated patients with major depression (n = 17) and with a group of matched, never-depressed controls (n = 22). At the time of testing, four of the nine neurosurgery patients had recovered from their depressive episode, whereas five remained depressed. Analysis of emotion recognition accuracy revealed no significant differences between depressed and non-depressed neurosurgically treated patients. Similarly, no significant differences were observed between the patients treated with ACING alone and those treated with both ACING and ACAPS. Comparison of the emotion recognition accuracy of the neurosurgically treated patients and the depressed and healthy control groups revealed that the surgically treated patients exhibited a general impairment in their recognition accuracy compared to healthy controls. Regression analysis revealed that participants’ emotion recognition accuracy was predicted by the number of errors they made on the Stroop colour-naming task. It is plausible that the observed deficit in emotion recognition accuracy was a consequence of impaired attentional control, which may have been a result of the surgical lesions to the anterior cingulate cortex.
Friday, February 23, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - Affective Interactions Using Virtual Reality: The Link between Presence and Emotions.
Riva G, Mantovani F, Capideville CS, Preziosa A, Morganti F, Villani D, Gaggioli A, Rotella C, Alcaniz M.
Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 10, 45-56
Many studies showed the ability of movies and imagery techniques to elicit emotions. Nevertheless, it is less clear how to manipulate the content of interactive media to induce specific emotional responses. In particular, this is true for the emerging medium virtual reality (VR), whose main feature is the ability to induce a feeling of "presence" in the computer-generated world experienced by the user. The main goal of this study was to analyze the possible use of VR as an affective medium. Within this general goal, the study also analyzed the relationship between presence and emotions. The results confirmed the efficacy of VR as affective medium: the interaction with "anxious" and "relaxing" virtual environments produced anxiety and relaxation. The data also showed a circular interaction between presence and emotions: on one side, the feeling of presence was greater in the "emotional" environments; on the other side, the emotional state was influenced by the level of presence. The significance of these results for the assessment of affective interaction is discussed.
Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 10, 45-56
Many studies showed the ability of movies and imagery techniques to elicit emotions. Nevertheless, it is less clear how to manipulate the content of interactive media to induce specific emotional responses. In particular, this is true for the emerging medium virtual reality (VR), whose main feature is the ability to induce a feeling of "presence" in the computer-generated world experienced by the user. The main goal of this study was to analyze the possible use of VR as an affective medium. Within this general goal, the study also analyzed the relationship between presence and emotions. The results confirmed the efficacy of VR as affective medium: the interaction with "anxious" and "relaxing" virtual environments produced anxiety and relaxation. The data also showed a circular interaction between presence and emotions: on one side, the feeling of presence was greater in the "emotional" environments; on the other side, the emotional state was influenced by the level of presence. The significance of these results for the assessment of affective interaction is discussed.
Friday, February 16, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - A functional MRI study of happy and sad affective states induced by classical musi
Martina T. Mitterschiffthaler , Cynthia H.Y. Fu, Jeffrey A. Dalton , Christopher M. Andrew , Steven C.R. Williams
Human Brain Mapping, in press
The present study investigated the functional neuroanatomy of transient mood changes in response to Western classical music. In a pilot experiment, 53 healthy volunteers (mean age: 32.0; SD = 9.6) evaluated their emotional responses to 60 classical musical pieces using a visual analogue scale (VAS) ranging from 0 (sad) through 50 (neutral) to 100 (happy). Twenty pieces were found to accurately induce the intended emotional states with good reliability, consisting of 5 happy, 5 sad, and 10 emotionally unevocative, neutral musical pieces. In a subsequent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, the blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal contrast was measured in response to the mood state induced by each musical stimulus in a separate group of 16 healthy participants (mean age: 29.5; SD = 5.5). Mood state ratings during scanning were made by a VAS, which confirmed the emotional valence of the selected stimuli. Increased BOLD signal contrast during presentation of happy music was found in the ventral and dorsal striatum, anterior cingulate, parahippocampal gyrus, and auditory association areas. With sad music, increased BOLD signal responses were noted in the hippocampus/amygdala and auditory association areas. Presentation of neutral music was associated with increased BOLD signal responses in the insula and auditory association areas. Our findings suggest that an emotion processing network in response to music integrates the ventral and dorsal striatum, areas involved in reward experience and movement; the anterior cingulate, which is important for targeting attention; and medial temporal areas, traditionally found in the appraisal and processing of emotions. Hum Brain Mapp 2007. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Human Brain Mapping, in press
The present study investigated the functional neuroanatomy of transient mood changes in response to Western classical music. In a pilot experiment, 53 healthy volunteers (mean age: 32.0; SD = 9.6) evaluated their emotional responses to 60 classical musical pieces using a visual analogue scale (VAS) ranging from 0 (sad) through 50 (neutral) to 100 (happy). Twenty pieces were found to accurately induce the intended emotional states with good reliability, consisting of 5 happy, 5 sad, and 10 emotionally unevocative, neutral musical pieces. In a subsequent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, the blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal contrast was measured in response to the mood state induced by each musical stimulus in a separate group of 16 healthy participants (mean age: 29.5; SD = 5.5). Mood state ratings during scanning were made by a VAS, which confirmed the emotional valence of the selected stimuli. Increased BOLD signal contrast during presentation of happy music was found in the ventral and dorsal striatum, anterior cingulate, parahippocampal gyrus, and auditory association areas. With sad music, increased BOLD signal responses were noted in the hippocampus/amygdala and auditory association areas. Presentation of neutral music was associated with increased BOLD signal responses in the insula and auditory association areas. Our findings suggest that an emotion processing network in response to music integrates the ventral and dorsal striatum, areas involved in reward experience and movement; the anterior cingulate, which is important for targeting attention; and medial temporal areas, traditionally found in the appraisal and processing of emotions. Hum Brain Mapp 2007. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Friday, February 09, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - Affective visual event-related potentials: Arousal, repetition, and time-on-task.
Jonas K. Olofsson and John Polich
Biological Psychology, in press
Affective stimulus pictures that differed in valence (unpleasant, neutral, and pleasant) were repeated as targets in an oddball task to elicit event-related potentials (ERPs) in young female adults. Each picture target was repeated consecutively four times, with picture order counterbalanced and time-on-task influences assessed across subjects. Response time decreased from the first to second stimulus presentation and remained stable. Stimulus repetition was associated with voltage increases for N1, P2, N2, and P3, from initial to subsequent presentations. Arousal effects did not interact with stimulus repetition at any latency range. Time-on-task was associated with decreased voltages for the N2 and P3 potentials but was unaffected by stimulus valence. The findings suggest affective arousal, stimulus repetition, and time-on-task independently modulate ERP outcomes at overlapping time ranges. Theoretical implications are discussed.
Biological Psychology, in press
Affective stimulus pictures that differed in valence (unpleasant, neutral, and pleasant) were repeated as targets in an oddball task to elicit event-related potentials (ERPs) in young female adults. Each picture target was repeated consecutively four times, with picture order counterbalanced and time-on-task influences assessed across subjects. Response time decreased from the first to second stimulus presentation and remained stable. Stimulus repetition was associated with voltage increases for N1, P2, N2, and P3, from initial to subsequent presentations. Arousal effects did not interact with stimulus repetition at any latency range. Time-on-task was associated with decreased voltages for the N2 and P3 potentials but was unaffected by stimulus valence. The findings suggest affective arousal, stimulus repetition, and time-on-task independently modulate ERP outcomes at overlapping time ranges. Theoretical implications are discussed.
Friday, February 02, 2007
ARTICLE UPDATE - Selective Visual Attention to Emotion
Harald T. Schupp, Jessica Stockburger, Maurizio Codispoti, Markus Junghöfer, Almut I. Weike, and Alfons O. Hamm
The Journal of Neuroscience, 27, 1082-1089
Visual attention can be voluntarily directed toward stimuli and is attracted by stimuli that are emotionally significant. The present study explored the case when both processes coincide and attention is directed to emotional stimuli. Participants viewed a rapid and continuous stream of high-arousing erotica and mutilation stimuli as well as low-arousing control images. Each of the three stimulus categories served in separate runs as target or nontarget category. Event-related brain potential measures revealed that the interaction of attention and emotion varied for specific processing stages. The effects of attention and emotional significance operated additively during perceptual encoding indexed by negative-going potentials over posterior regions (~200–350 ms after stimulus onset). In contrast, thought to reflect the process of stimulus evaluation, P3 target effects (~400–600 ms after stimulus onset) were markedly augmented when erotica and mutilation compared with control stimuli were the focus of attention. Thus, emotion potentiated attention effects specifically during later stages of processing. These findings suggest to specify the interaction of attention and emotion in distinct processing stages.
The Journal of Neuroscience, 27, 1082-1089
Visual attention can be voluntarily directed toward stimuli and is attracted by stimuli that are emotionally significant. The present study explored the case when both processes coincide and attention is directed to emotional stimuli. Participants viewed a rapid and continuous stream of high-arousing erotica and mutilation stimuli as well as low-arousing control images. Each of the three stimulus categories served in separate runs as target or nontarget category. Event-related brain potential measures revealed that the interaction of attention and emotion varied for specific processing stages. The effects of attention and emotional significance operated additively during perceptual encoding indexed by negative-going potentials over posterior regions (~200–350 ms after stimulus onset). In contrast, thought to reflect the process of stimulus evaluation, P3 target effects (~400–600 ms after stimulus onset) were markedly augmented when erotica and mutilation compared with control stimuli were the focus of attention. Thus, emotion potentiated attention effects specifically during later stages of processing. These findings suggest to specify the interaction of attention and emotion in distinct processing stages.
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