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Central and Divided Visual Field Presentation of Emotional Images to Measure Hemispheric Differences in Motivated Attention
Published on: November 16, 2017
Emotionally arousing stimuli compete for attention with left hemispace
Kaisa M Hartikainen1, Keith H Ogawa, Maryam Soltani
1Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, Tolman Hall, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA. kaisa.hartikainen@uta.fi
Neuroreport
|November 17, 2007
Summary
Unpleasant emotional stimuli disrupt attention, particularly in the left visual field. This impacts cognitive processing and right hemisphere function, affecting our ability to react adaptively.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Affective Neuroscience
- Visual Attention
Background:
- Emotional stimuli rapidly influence cognitive processes, including attention.
- The interaction between emotional and attentional networks is vital for adaptive behavior.
- Hemifield attention allocation can be modulated by emotional content.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how emotional stimulation affects hemifield attention allocation.
- To examine the electrophysiological and behavioral correlates of emotional influence on attention.
- To determine if unpleasant stimuli interfere with specific attentional capacities.
Main Methods:
- Event-related potentials (ERPs) and behavioral measures were employed.
- Participants performed a visual-discrimination task with nonemotional targets.
- Task-irrelevant emotional (pleasant/unpleasant) or neutral pictures preceded targets.
Main Results:
- Unpleasant stimuli slowed behavioral responses to left visual field targets.
- ERPs showed reduced attention-related activity over right parietal regions following unpleasant stimuli.
- Evidence suggests unpleasant stimuli interfere with right hemisphere-dependent attention.
Conclusions:
- Unpleasant, emotionally arousing stimuli impair attentional capacity, particularly for left visual field processing.
- The findings highlight the significant impact of negative emotions on cognitive control and hemispheric specialization.
- This interference is linked to the right hemisphere's role in attention allocation.
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