Recent studies support the hypothesis that emotional stimuli draw attentional resources. Specifically, emotional images elicit augmented negative amplitudes over occipito-temporal regions (early posterior negativity, EPN) around 150 ms after stimulus onset, most apparent between 200 and 300 ms. Accordingly, it was explored in this study whether the selective processing of emotional cues is an obligatory phenomenon that does not habituate. Pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant pictures were presented for 330 ms without perceivable interstimulus interval. The picture set was repeated 90 times amounting to a total of 3600 picture presentations. The EEG was collected continuously with a 129 dense sensor array during passive picture viewing. Replicating previous results, emotional contents were associated with significantly augmented EPN amplitudes over temporooccipital sites. Of most interest, emotional modulation was similarly expressed for the first and last block of picture presentation. The present findings demonstrate the near absence of habituation of the selective attention devoted to emotionally significant stimuli during perceptual processing. These findings contrast with the rapid habituation that can be observed for autonomic indices of emotional processing. Accordingly, it appears that habituation changes the networks that regulate the organization of the emotional response output, but that those networks responsible for the detection of emotional significant stimuli in environment are not altered by habituation, and might therefore be an obligatory response.

SELECTIVE EMOTION PROCESSING IN THE VISUAL BRAIN: THE NEAR ABSENCE OF HABITUATION

CODISPOTI, MAURIZIO;
2005

Abstract

Recent studies support the hypothesis that emotional stimuli draw attentional resources. Specifically, emotional images elicit augmented negative amplitudes over occipito-temporal regions (early posterior negativity, EPN) around 150 ms after stimulus onset, most apparent between 200 and 300 ms. Accordingly, it was explored in this study whether the selective processing of emotional cues is an obligatory phenomenon that does not habituate. Pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant pictures were presented for 330 ms without perceivable interstimulus interval. The picture set was repeated 90 times amounting to a total of 3600 picture presentations. The EEG was collected continuously with a 129 dense sensor array during passive picture viewing. Replicating previous results, emotional contents were associated with significantly augmented EPN amplitudes over temporooccipital sites. Of most interest, emotional modulation was similarly expressed for the first and last block of picture presentation. The present findings demonstrate the near absence of habituation of the selective attention devoted to emotionally significant stimuli during perceptual processing. These findings contrast with the rapid habituation that can be observed for autonomic indices of emotional processing. Accordingly, it appears that habituation changes the networks that regulate the organization of the emotional response output, but that those networks responsible for the detection of emotional significant stimuli in environment are not altered by habituation, and might therefore be an obligatory response.
2005
s5
s5
H.T. Schupp; J. Stockburger; M Codispoti; M.Junghoefer; A. I. Weike; A. O. Hamm
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11585/18616
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