scholarly journals Arousal modulates the motor interference effect stimulated by pictures of threatening animals

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e10876
Author(s):  
Gai Cao ◽  
Peng Liu
Keyword(s):  
Effect Size ◽  
Interference Effect ◽  
Parietal Lobe ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Motor Preparation ◽  
Arousal Level ◽  
High Arousal ◽  
Negative Valence ◽  
Motor Priming ◽  
Positive And Negative Valence

Previous research related to the motor interference effect from dangerous objects indicated that delayed responses to dangerous objects were associated with more positive parietal P3 amplitudes, suggesting that great attentional resources were allocated to evaluate the level of danger (i.e., negative valence). However, arousal covaried with valence in this research. Together with previous studies in which the P3 amplitude was found to be increased along with a higher arousal level in the parietal lobe, we raised the issue that more positive parietal P3 amplitudes might also be affected by a high arousal level. To clarify whether valence or arousal impacted the motor interference effect, this study used a motor priming paradigm mixed with a Go/NoGo task and manipulated the valence (negative, neutral and positive) and arousal (medium and high) of target stimuli. Analysis of the behavioral results identified a significant motor interference effect (longer reaction times (RTs) in the negative valence condition than in the neutral valence condition) at the medium arousal level and an increased effect size (increment of RT difference) at the high arousal level. The results indicated that negative valence stimuli may interfere with the prime elicited motor preparation more strongly at the high arousal level than at the medium arousal level. The ERP results identified larger centroparietal P3 amplitudes for the negative valence condition than for the neutral valence condition at a high arousal level. However, the inverse result, i.e., lower centroparietal P3 amplitudes for the negative valence condition than for the neutral valence condition, was observed at a medium arousal level. The ERP results further indicated that the effect size of the behavioral motor interference effect increased because subjects are more sensitive to the negative valence stimuli at the high arousal level than at the medium arousal level. Furthermore, the motor interference effect is related to the negative valence rather than emotionality of the target stimuli because different result patterns emerged between the positive and negative valence conditions. Detailed processes underlying the interaction between valence and arousal effects are discussed.

scholarly journals Effects of Emotional Valence and Arousal on Time Perception

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 360-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Van Volkinburg ◽  
Peter Balsam
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Emotional Arousal ◽  
Temporal Information ◽  
Arousal Level ◽  
Time Intervals ◽  
Reproduction Task ◽  
High Arousal ◽  
Negative Valence ◽  
Temporal Information Processing ◽  
Positive And Negative Valence

We examined the influence of emotional arousal and valence on estimating time intervals. A reproduction task was used in which images from the International Affective Picture System served as the stimuli to be timed. Experiment 1 assessed the effects of positive and negative valence at a moderate arousal level and Experiment 2 replicated Experiment 1 with the addition of a high arousal condition. Overestimation increased as a function of arousal during encoding of times regardless of valence. For images presented during reproduction, overestimation occurred at the moderate arousal level for positive and negative valence but underestimation occurred in the negative valence high arousal condition. The overestimation of time intervals produced by emotional arousal during encoding and during reproduction suggests that emotional stimuli affect temporal information processing in a qualitatively different way during different phases of temporal information processing.

scholarly journals The role of selective attention in the positivity offset: Evidence from event related potentials

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0258640
Author(s):  
Regard M. Booy ◽  
Patrick L. Carolan
Keyword(s):  
Selective Attention ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Facilitation Effect ◽  
Negative Valence ◽  
Positive Material ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Positive And Negative Valence ◽  
Positivity Offset

Some research suggests that positive and negative valence stimuli may be processed differently. For example, negative material may capture and hold attention more readily than equally arousing positive material. This is called the negativity bias, and it has been observed as both behavioural and electroencephalographic (EEG) effects. Consequently, it has been attributed to both automatic and elaborative processes. However, at the lowest levels of arousal, faster reaction times and stronger EEG responses to positive material have been observed. This is called the positivity offset, and the underlying cognitive mechanism is less understood. To study the role of selective attention in the positivity offset, participants completed a negative affective priming (NAP) task modified to dissociate priming for positive and negative words. The task required participants to indicate the valence of a target word, while simultaneously ignoring a distractor. In experiment 1, a behavioural facilitation effect (faster response time) was observed for positive words, in stark contrast to the original NAP task. These results were congruent with a previously reported general categorization advantage for positive material. In experiment 2, participants performed the task while EEG was recorded. In additional to replicating the behavioural results from experiment 1, positive words elicited a larger Late Positive Potential (LPP) component on ignored repetition relative to control trials. Surprisingly, negative words elicited a larger LPP than positive words on control trials. These results suggest that the positivity offset may reflect a greater sensitivity to priming effects due to a more flexible attentional set.

The Level of Reaction Time Determines the ERP Correlates of Auditory Negative Priming

2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 186-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Mayr ◽  
Michael Niedeggen ◽  
Axel Buchner ◽  
Guido Orgs
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Negative Priming ◽  
Effect Size ◽  
Priming Effect ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Negative Priming Effect ◽  
Episodic Retrieval ◽  
Time Level ◽  
Fast Reactions ◽  
Priming Condition

Responding to a stimulus that had to be ignored previously is usually slowed-down (negative priming effect). This study investigates the reaction time and ERP effects of the negative priming phenomenon in the auditory domain. Thirty participants had to categorize sounds as musical instruments or animal voices. Reaction times were slowed-down in the negative priming condition relative to two control conditions. This effect was stronger for slow reactions (above intraindividual median) than for fast reactions (below intraindividual median). ERP analysis revealed a parietally located negativity of the negative priming condition compared to the control conditions between 550-730 ms poststimulus. This replicates the findings of Mayr, Niedeggen, Buchner, and Pietrowsky (2003) . The ERP correlate was more pronounced for slow trials (above intraindividual median) than for fast trials (below intraindividual median). The dependency of the negative priming effect size on the reaction time level found in the reaction time analysis as well as in the ERP analysis is consistent with both the inhibition as well as the episodic retrieval account of negative priming. A methodological artifact explanation of this effect-size dependency is discussed and discarded.

scholarly journals EXPRESS: When Symmetric and Curved Visual Contour Meet Intentional Instructions: Hedonic Value and Preference

2021 ◽  
pp. 174702182110215
Author(s):  
Erick G. Chuquichambi Apaza ◽  
Guido B. Corradi ◽  
Enric Munar ◽  
Jaume Rosselló-Mir
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Experimental Session ◽  
Hedonic Tone ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Negative Valence ◽  
Visual Contour ◽  
Positive Valence ◽  
Positive And Negative Valence ◽  
Implicit And Explicit ◽  
Explicit Measures

Symmetry and contour take part in shaping visual preference. However, less is known about their combined contribution to preference. We examined the hedonic tone and preference triggered by the interaction of symmetry and contour. Symmetric/curved, symmetric/sharp-angled, asymmetric/curved, and asymmetric/sharp-angled stimuli were presented in an implicit and explicit task. The implicit task consisted of an affective stimulus-response compatibility task where participants matched the stimuli with positive and negative valence response cues. The explicit task recorded liking ratings from the same stimuli. We used instructed mindset to induce participants to focus on symmetry or contour in different parts of the experimental session. We found an implicit compatibility of symmetry and curvature with positive hedonic tone. Explicit results showed preference for symmetry and curvature. In both tasks, symmetry and curvature showed a cumulative interaction, with a larger contribution of symmetry to the overall effect. While symmetric and asymmetric stimuli contributed to the implicit positive valence of symmetry, the effect of curvature was mainly caused by inclination toward curved contours rather than rejection of sharp-angled contours. We did not find any correlation between implicit and explicit measures, suggesting that they may involve different cognitive processing.

scholarly journals Effects of ketamine on brain function during metacognition of episodic memory

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirko Lehmann ◽  
Claudia Neumann ◽  
Sven Wasserthal ◽  
Johannes Schultz ◽  
Achilles Delis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Parietal Lobe ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Lingual Gyrus ◽  
States Of Consciousness ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Confidence Ratings

Abstract Only little research has been conducted on the pharmacological underpinnings of metacognition. Here, we tested the modulatory effects of a single intravenous dose (100 ng/ml) of the N-methyl-D-aspartate-glutamate-receptor antagonist ketamine, a compound known to induce altered states of consciousness, on metacognition and its neural correlates. Fifty-three young, healthy adults completed two study phases of an episodic memory task involving both encoding and retrieval in a double-blind, placebo-controlled fMRI study. Trial-by-trial confidence ratings were collected during retrieval. Effects on the subjective state of consciousness were assessed using the 5D-ASC questionnaire. Confirming that the drug elicited a psychedelic state, there were effects of ketamine on all 5D-ASC scales. Acute ketamine administration during retrieval had deleterious effects on metacognitive sensitivity (meta-d′) and led to larger metacognitive bias, with retrieval performance (d′) and reaction times remaining unaffected. However, there was no ketamine effect on metacognitive efficiency (meta-d′/d′). Measures of the BOLD signal revealed that ketamine compared to placebo elicited higher activation of posterior cortical brain areas, including superior and inferior parietal lobe, calcarine gyrus, and lingual gyrus, albeit not specific to metacognitive confidence ratings. Ketamine administered during encoding did not significantly affect performance or brain activation. Overall, our findings suggest that ketamine impacts metacognition, leading to significantly larger metacognitive bias and deterioration of metacognitive sensitivity as well as unspecific activation increases in posterior hot zone areas of the neural correlates of consciousness.

Emotionality effects in ambiguous word recognition: The crucial role of the affective congruence between distinct meanings of ambiguous words

2021 ◽  
pp. 174702182199000
Author(s):  
Pilar Ferré ◽  
Juan Haro ◽  
Daniel Huete-Pérez ◽  
Isabel Fraga
Keyword(s):  
Word Processing ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Ambiguous Word ◽  
Semantic Ambiguity ◽  
Negative Valence ◽  
Ambiguous Words ◽  
Positive Valence ◽  
Affective Meanings ◽  
Valence Effect ◽  
Affective Word

There is substantial evidence that affectively charged words (e.g., party or gun) are processed differently from neutral words (e.g., pen), although there are also inconsistent findings in the field. Some lexical or semantic variables might explain such inconsistencies, due to the possible modulation of affective word processing by these variables. The aim of the present study was to examine the extent to which affective word processing is modulated by semantic ambiguity. We conducted a large lexical decision study including semantically ambiguous words (e.g., cataract) and semantically unambiguous words (e.g., terrorism), analysing the extent to which reaction times (RTs) were influenced by their affective properties. The findings revealed a valence effect in which positive valence made RTs faster, whereas negative valence slowed them. The valence effect diminished as the semantic ambiguity of words increased. This decrease did not affect all ambiguous words, but was observed mainly in ambiguous words with incongruent affective meanings. These results highlight the need to consider the affective properties of the distinct meanings of ambiguous words in research on affective word processing.

The cross-modal affective priming effect: Effects of the valence and arousal of primes

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (12) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Cheng Kang ◽  
Nan Ye ◽  
Fangwen Zhang ◽  
Yanwen Wu ◽  
Guichun Jin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Priming Effect ◽  
Affective Priming ◽  
Negative Valence ◽  
Priming Task ◽  
The Cross ◽  
Visual Targets ◽  
Positive And Negative Valence ◽  
Valence And Arousal ◽  
Affective Information

Although studies have investigated the influence of the emotionality of primes on the cross-modal affective priming effect, it is unclear whether this effect is due to the contribution of the arousal or the valence of primes. We explored how the valence and arousal of primes influenced the cross-modal affective priming effect. In Experiment 1 we manipulated the valence of primes (positive and negative) that were matched by arousal. In Experiments 2 and 3 we manipulated the arousal of primes under the conditions of positive and negative valence, respectively. Affective words were used as auditory primes and affective faces were used as visual targets in a priming task. The results suggest that the valence of primes modulated the cross-modal affective priming effect but that the arousal of primes did not influence the priming effect. Only when the priming stimuli were positive did the cross-modal affective priming effect occur, but negative primes did not produce a priming effect. In addition, for positive but not negative primes, the arousal of primes facilitated the processing of subsequent targets. Our findings have great significance for understanding the interaction of different modal affective information.

scholarly journals When Symmetric and Curved Visual Contour Meet Intentional Instructions: Hedonic Value and Preference

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erick Gustavo Chuquichambi ◽  
Guido Corradi ◽  
Jaume Rossello ◽  
Enric Munar
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Experimental Session ◽  
Hedonic Tone ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Negative Valence ◽  
Visual Contour ◽  
Positive Valence ◽  
Positive And Negative Valence ◽  
Implicit And Explicit ◽  
Explicit Measures

Symmetry and contour take part in shaping visual preference. However, less is known about their combined contribution to preference. We examined the hedonic tone and preference triggered by the interaction of symmetry and contour. Symmetric/curved, symmetric/sharp-angled, asymmetric/curved, and asymmetric/sharp-angled stimuli were presented in an implicit and explicit task. The implicit task consisted of an affective stimulus-response compatibility task where participants matched the stimuli with positive and negative valence response cues. The explicit task recorded liking ratings from the same stimuli. We used instructed mindset to induce participants to focus on symmetry or contour in different parts of the experimental session. We found an implicit compatibility of symmetry and curvature with positive hedonic tone. Explicit results showed preference for symmetry and curvature. In both tasks, symmetry and curvature showed a cumulative interaction, with a larger contribution of symmetry to the overall effect. While symmetric and asymmetric stimuli contributed to the implicit positive valence of symmetry, the effect of curvature was mainly caused by inclination toward curved contours rather than rejection of sharp-angled contours. We did not find any correlation between implicit and explicit measures, suggesting that they may involve different cognitive processing.

scholarly journals Beta-band desynchronization reflects uncertainty in effector selection during motor planning

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milou J.L. van Helvert ◽  
Leonie Oostwoud Wijdenes ◽  
Linda Geerligs ◽  
W. Pieter Medendorp
Keyword(s):  
Time Window ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Motor Planning ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Motor Preparation ◽  
Motion Artifact ◽  
Theta Band ◽  
Beta Band ◽  
Target Uncertainty ◽  
Band Power

AbstractWhile beta-band activity during motor planning is known to be modulated by uncertainty about where to act, less is known about its modulations to uncertainty about how to act. To investigate this issue, we recorded oscillatory brain activity with EEG while human participants (n = 17) performed a hand choice reaching task. The reaching hand was either predetermined or of participants’ choice, and the target was close to one of the two hands or at about equal distance from both. To measure neural activity in a motion-artifact-free time window, the location of the upcoming target was cued 1000-1500 ms before the presentation of the target, whereby the cue was valid in 50% of trials. As evidence for motor planning during the cueing phase, behavioral observations showed that the cue affected later hand choice. Furthermore, reaction times were longer in the choice than in the predetermined trials, supporting the notion of a competitive process for hand selection. Modulations of beta-band power over central cortical regions, but not alpha-band or theta-band power, were in line with these observations. During the cueing period, reaches in predetermined trials were preceded by larger decreases in beta-band power than reaches in choice trials. Cue direction did not affect reaction times or beta-band power, which may be due to the cue being invalid in 50% of trials, retaining effector uncertainty during motor planning. Our findings suggest that effector uncertainty, similar to target uncertainty, selectively modulates beta-band power during motor planning.New & NoteworthyWhile reach-related beta-band power in central cortical areas is known to modulate with the number of potential targets, here we show, using a cueing paradigm, that the power in this frequency band, but not in the alpha or theta-band, is also modulated by the uncertainty of which hand to use. This finding supports the notion that multiple possible effector-specific actions can be specified in parallel up to the level of motor preparation.

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