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Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition
Published on: February 1, 2012
Neural activities for negative priming with affective stimuli: an fMRI study
Kwok-Keung Leung1, Tatia M C Lee, Zhuangwei Xiao
1Laboratory of Neuropsychology, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong.
Neuroscience Letters
|February 19, 2008
Summary
Negative priming, a measure of attentional control, was examined using fMRI. Negative affective words impaired inhibition, affecting brain activity in frontal and subcortical regions.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Neuroimaging
Background:
- Negative priming quantifies inhibitory control and attentional disengagement.
- It is a valuable index for studying cognitive processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural correlates of negative priming using fMRI.
- To examine the impact of affective word valence on negative priming and its neural basis.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed.
- Healthy Mandarin-speaking participants completed a negative priming task with neutral and negative affective words.
Main Results:
- Negative priming with neutral words correlated with increased activity in the anterior cingulate cortex and insula.
- Negative affective words attenuated the negative priming effect.
- This attenuation was linked to increased activity in frontal regions, hippocampus, and supplementary motor areas.
Conclusions:
- The findings support the inhibition account of negative priming.
- Affective content, particularly negative words, can compromise inhibitory control.
- Specific frontal and subcortical brain regions are involved in attentional orientation towards negative affective information.
