QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

The Journal of Neuroscience, January 31, 2007, 27(5):1082-1089; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3223-06.2007

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (16) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Schupp, H. T. Articles by Hamm, A. O. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Schupp, H. T. Articles by Hamm, A. O.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Selective Visual Attention to Emotion

Harald T. Schupp,¹ Jessica Stockburger,¹ Maurizio Codispoti,² Markus Junghöfer,³ Almut I. Weike,⁴ and Alfons O. Hamm⁴

¹Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany, ²Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy, ³Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany, and ⁴Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald, 17487 Greifswald, Germany

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Harald T. Schupp, Institute of Psychology, University of Konstanz, P.O. Box D36, 78457 Konstanz, Germany. Email: Harald.Schupp{at}uni-konstanz.de

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.

Key words: attention; emotion; ERP; posterior negative potential; P3; late positive potential

---

Received April 4, 2006; revised Nov. 7, 2006; accepted Nov. 28, 2006.

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Harald T. Schupp, Institute of Psychology, University of Konstanz, P.O. Box D36, 78457 Konstanz, Germany. Email: Harald.Schupp{at}uni-konstanz.de

This article has been cited by other articles:

				G. R. Kuperberg, D. A. Kreher, A. Swain, D. C. Goff, and D. J. Holt Selective Emotional Processing Deficits to Social Vignettes in Schizophrenia: An ERP Study Schizophr Bull, June 29, 2009; (2009) sbp018v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. A. Hinojosa, L. Carretie, M. A. Valcarcel, C. Mendez-Bertolo, and M. A. Pozo Electrophysiological differences in the processing of affective information in words and pictures Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci, June 1, 2009; 9(2): 173 - 189. [Abstract] [PDF]

				F. Van Overwalle, S. Van den Eede, K. Baetens, and M. Vandekerckhove Trait inferences in goal-directed behavior: ERP timing and localization under spontaneous and intentional processing Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci, June 1, 2009; 4(2): 177 - 190. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Schacht and W. Sommer Time course and task dependence of emotion effects in word processing Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci, March 1, 2009; 9(1): 28 - 43. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M. M. Muller, S. K. Andersen, and A. Keil Time Course of Competition for Visual Processing Resources between Emotional Pictures and Foreground Task Cereb Cortex, August 1, 2008; 18(8): 1892 - 1899. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. SCHACHT, K. WERHEID, and W. SOMMER The appraisal of facial beauty is rapid but not mandatory Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci, June 1, 2008; 8(2): 132 - 142. [Abstract] [PDF]

				D. Talmi, A. K. Anderson, L. Riggs, J. B. Caplan, and M. Moscovitch Immediate memory consequences of the effect of emotion on attention to pictures Learn. Mem., March 5, 2008; 15(3): 172 - 182. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help