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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 15, 2026

Investigating the Neural Mechanisms of Aware and Unaware Fear Memory with fMRI

Investigating the Neural Mechanisms of Aware and Unaware Fear Memory with fMRI

Published on: October 6, 2011

Fear selectively modulates visual mental imagery and visual perception.

Grégoire Borst¹, Stephen M Kosslyn

¹Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. borst@wjh.harvard.edu

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (2006)

|February 26, 2010

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Emotions influence visual processing. Fearful faces enhance global word shape perception but impair detailed word processing, affecting both direct visual input and mental imagery.

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Last Updated: Jun 15, 2026

Investigating the Neural Mechanisms of Aware and Unaware Fear Memory with fMRI

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Published on: October 6, 2011

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Central and Divided Visual Field Presentation of Emotional Images to Measure Hemispheric Differences in Motivated Attention

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Published on: November 16, 2017

Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Visual Perception
Affective Science

Background:

Emotions are known to modulate low-level visual processing of external stimuli.
The impact of emotions on internally generated visual representations (mental images) is less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether emotions modulate visual mental imagery in addition to direct visual processing.
To compare the effects of emotional stimuli on processing of global versus detailed visual information.

Main Methods:

Participants visualized or viewed written words.
Prior brief exposure to fearful faces served as the emotional modulator.
Analysis focused on processing of low-spatial-frequency (global shape) and high-spatial-frequency (details) information.

Main Results:

Fearful faces enhanced processing of global word shapes (low-spatial-frequency) during visualization and viewing.
Fearful faces impaired processing of word details (high-spatial-frequency) during visualization and viewing.
Emotional modulation effects were consistent for both direct visual perception and visual mental imagery.

Conclusions:

Emotions similarly affect low-level visual processing of external percepts and internal visual representations.
Emotional modulation of visual processing is not limited to stimuli directly from sensory input.