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Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition
Published on: February 1, 2012
The emotional startle effect is disrupted by a concurrent working memory task.
Rosemary King1, Alexandre Schaefer1
1Institute of Psychological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom.
Psychophysiology
|July 20, 2010
Summary
Cognitive load from working memory tasks reduces emotional processing, even when focusing on emotional images. This impacts the startle eyeblink reflex, an index of emotional responses.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Psychology
Background:
- Working memory (WM) is crucial for cognitive regulation of emotions.
- The influence of WM on emotional processing remains under-explored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if a concurrent working memory task modulates the emotional startle eyeblink reflex.
- To understand how cognitive load affects emotional processing.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted using emotionally negative and neutral pictures.
- Participants were assigned to either a cognitive load (CL) condition (maintaining information in WM) or a no load (NL) control condition.
- The startle eyeblink reflex was measured as an index of emotional processing.
Main Results:
- A significant reduction in the emotional modulation of the startle eyeblink reflex was observed in the CL condition compared to the NL condition.
- This effect occurred regardless of whether participants were directing visual focus on emotional stimuli.
Conclusions:
- Concurrent working memory tasks disrupt emotional processing.
- Cognitive load impairs the ability to process emotional information, even when attention is directed towards it.
