EXPRESS: Task demands moderate the effect of emotion on attentional capture

The current experiment examined the effect of task demands on attention to emotional images. Eighty participants viewed pairs of images, with each pair consisting of an emotional (negative or positive) and a neutral image, or two neutral images. Participants’ eye movements were recorded during picture viewing, and participants were either asked 1) which picture contains more colour? (colour task), 2) are the images equally pleasant? (pleasantness task), 3) which picture do you prefer? (preference task), or 4) were given no task instructions (control task). Although the results did not suggest that emotional images strongly captured attention, emotional images were looked at earlier than neutral images. Importantly, the pattern of results were dependent upon the task instructions; whilst the preference and colour task conditions showed early attentional biases to emotional images, only positive images were looked at earlier in the pleasantness task condition, and no early attentional biases were observed in the control task. Moreover, total fixation duration was increased for positive images in the preference task condition, but not in the other task conditions. It was concluded that attention to emotional stimuli can be modified by the demands of the task during viewing. However, further research should consider additional factors, such as the cognitive load of the viewing tasks, and the content of the images used.

New insights on the correspondence between subjective affective experience and physiological responses from representational similarity analyses

Classical views suggest that experienced affect is related to a specific bodily response (Fingerprint hypothesis), whereas recent perspectives challenge this view postulating that similar affective experiences rather evoke different physiological responses. To further advance this debate in the field, we used representational similarity analysis to investigate the correspondence between subjective affect (arousal and valence ratings) and physiological reactions (skin conductance response [SCR], startle blink response, heart rate and corrugator activity) across various emotion induction contexts (picture viewing task, sound listening task and imagery task). Significant similarities were exclusively observed between SCR and arousal in the picture viewing task. However, none of the other physiological measures showed a significant relation with valence and arousal ratings in any of the tasks. These findings tend to support the populations hypothesis, suggesting that there is no clear match between the evoked physiological responses and the experienced subjective affect between individuals.

A dynamic causal model on self-regulation of aversive emotion

Cognitive regulation of emotion has been proven to be effective to take control the emotional responses. Some cognitive models have also been proposed to explain the neural mechanism that underlies this process. However, some characteristics of the models are still unclear, such as whether the cognitive regulation will be spontaneously employed by participants implicitly. The present study recruited the fMRI experiment to focus on the discomfort induced by viewing aversive pictures, and the emotional self-regulation during picture viewing. By using the dynamic causal modeling (DCM), 50 putative models of brain functional networks were constructed, one optimal model that fitted the real data best won the comparison from the candidates. As a result, the optimal model suggests that both the ventral striatum (VS)-centric bottom-up and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC)-centric top-down regulations are recruited for self-regulation on negative emotions. The DLPFC will exert modulatory influence on the VS only when the VS fails to suppress the induced emotions by self-inhibition.

Reduced neural response to reward and pleasant pictures independently relate to depression

Background Multiple studies have found a reduced reward positivity (RewP) among individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD). Event-related potential studies have also reported blunted neural responses to pleasant pictures in MDD as reflected by the late positive potential (LPP). These deficits have been interpreted broadly in terms of anhedonia and decreased emotional engagement characteristic of depression. Methods In the current study, a community-based sample of 83 participants with current MDD and 45 healthy individuals performed both a guessing task and a picture viewing paradigm with neutral and pleasant pictures to assess the RewP and the LPP, respectively. Results We found that both RewP and LPP to pleasant pictures were reduced in the MDD group; moreover, RewP and LPP were both independent predictors of MDD status. Within the MDD group, a smaller RewP predicted impaired mood reactivity in younger but not older participants. Smaller LPP amplitudes were associated with increased anhedonia severity in the MDD group. Conclusions These data replicate and merge separate previous lines of research, and suggest that a blunted RewP and LPP reflect independent neural deficits in MDD – which could be used in conjunction to improve the classification of depression.

Processing of Positive Visual Stimuli Before and After Symptoms Provocation in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder – A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study of Trauma-Affected Male Refugees

Background Symptoms of anhedonia are often central to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but it is unclear how anhedonia is affected by processes induced by reliving past traumatic memories. Methods Sixty-nine male refugees (PTSD = 38) were interviewed and scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging while viewing positive, neutral and Scrambled Pictures after being read personalized scripts evoking an emotionally neutral memory and a traumatic memory. We further measured postprovocation state symptoms, physiological measures and PTSD symptoms. We tested whether neural activity associated with positive picture viewing in participants with PTSD was differentially affected by symptom provocation compared to controls. Results For the pictures > scrambled contrast (Positive contrast), PTSD participants had significantly less activity than controls in fusiform gyrus, right inferior temporal gyrus and left middle occipital gyrus. The Positive contrast activity in fusiform gyrus scaled negatively with anhedonia symptoms in PTSD participants after controlling for total PTSD severity. Relative to the emotionally Neutral Script, the Trauma Script decreased positive picture viewing activity in posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus and left calcarine gyrus, but there was no difference between PTSD participants and controls. Conclusions We found reduced responsiveness of higher visual processing of emotionally positive pictures in PTSD. The significant correlation found between positive picture viewing activity and anhedonia suggests the reduced responsiveness to be due to the severity of anhedonia.

Vocabulary Learning Through Picture-Viewing and Picture-Drawing on Tablets

Beginning learners of English frequently use flashcards as a tool for learning vocabulary. However, because of the consciousness difference between the picture-readers and picture-drawers on vocabularies, errors may be involved in the learners' comprehension of the vocabulary terms on the flashcards. This article develops and evaluates an English vocabulary learning strategy for tablet devices on which learners' viewing and drawing corresponding to vocabularies on the mobile devices. Fifty-two elementary school students were recruited and divided into two groups: The first group read the printed flashcards from electronic files, the second group read the flashcards drawn by students themselves. The results indicated that the drawing learning strategy was beneficial for increasing both their learning motivation and memory retention. The learners could create their own learning content by drawing pictures in such a manner that the pictures were highly relevant to the meaning of the target word, thus transforming their learning pattern from passive to active.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

This study explores how motivational activation influences real-time selection behavior during picture viewing on a computer. We measured the trait level motivational reactivity (ASA and DSA) of 40 participants, who then viewed a series of pictures. Each participant was given the opportunity to select a new picture of either similar or different valence as the picture currently viewed. We recorded indicators of participants’ selection behavior: their propensity to change picture valence, ratio of pleasant to unpleasant pictures selected, and decision time (how long it took them to decide on the valence of the next picture). Results showed that motivational activation predicts each of these behavioral indicators, leading to some preliminary implications for online user experience as well as the suggestion that media outlets might consider variance in motivational activation when selecting online content.