Brain imaging investigation of the impairing effect of emotion on cognition

Emotions can impact cognition by exerting both enhancing (e.g., better memory for emotional events) and impairing (e.g., increased emotional distractibility) effects (reviewed in (1)). Complementing our recent protocol (2) describing a method that allows investigation of the neural correlates of the memory-enhancing effect of emotion (see also (1, 3-5)), here we present a protocol that allows investigation of the neural correlates of the detrimental impact of emotion on cognition. The main feature of this method is that it allows identification of reciprocal modulations between activity in a ventral neural system, involved in 'hot' emotion processing (HotEmo system), and a dorsal system, involved in higher-level 'cold' cognitive/executive processing (ColdEx system), which are linked to cognitive performance and to individual variations in behavior (reviewed in (1)). Since its initial introduction (6), this design has proven particularly versatile and influential in the elucidation of various aspects concerning the neural correlates of the detrimental impact of emotional distraction on cognition, with a focus on working memory (WM), and of coping with such distraction (7,11), in both healthy (8-11) and clinical participants (12-14).