Motivated and controlled attention to emotion: time-course of the late positive potential

Clin Neurophysiol. 2009 Mar;120(3):505-10. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2008.11.028. Epub 2009 Jan 20.

Abstract

Objective: The present study examined the time-course of automatic and controlled modulation of the late positive potential (LPP) during emotional picture viewing.

Methods: Participants (N=32) viewed neutral and unpleasant stimuli for 6000 ms; at 3000 ms, one of two tones signaled participants to attend either to a more or less arousing portion of the picture. The time-course of the LPP was examined both during the passive viewing and directed attention portions of the trial using the method proposed by Guthrie and Buchwald [Guthrie D, Buchwald JS. Significance testing of difference potentials. Psychophysiology 1991;28(2):240-4].

Results: During passive viewing, the LPP became reliably larger following the presentation of unpleasant pictures from 160 ms onward; the magnitude of the LPP became reliably smaller beginning 620 ms after participants were instructed to attend to the less arousing aspects of unpleasant pictures - and this difference was maintained throughout the duration of the trial.

Conclusions: The LPP reflects relatively automatic attention to emotional visual stimuli, but is also sensitive to manipulations of directed attention toward arousing versus neutral aspects of such stimuli.

Significance: These results shed further light on the time-course of emotional and cognitive modulation of the LPP, and suggest that the LPP reflects the relatively rapid and dynamic allocation of increased attention to emotional stimuli.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Arousal / physiology*
  • Attention / physiology*
  • Cerebral Cortex / physiology*
  • Electroencephalography / methods
  • Emotions / physiology*
  • Evoked Potentials / physiology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Motivation*
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Photic Stimulation
  • Reaction Time / physiology
  • Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Time Factors
  • Young Adult