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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 20, 2026

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

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

Published on: November 16, 2017

Processing of angry voices is modulated by visual load.

Martin Mothes-Lasch¹, Wolfgang H R Miltner, Thomas Straube

¹Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Am Steiger 3/1, D-07743 Jena, Germany. martin.mothes-lasch@uni-jena.de

|July 17, 2012

Summary

High visual perceptual load can reduce the brain's response to angry voices. This suggests that demanding visual tasks may interfere with processing emotional auditory stimuli, impacting the auditory cortex.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Psychology
Auditory Perception

Background:

Visual perceptual load influences brain responses to emotional visual stimuli.
The impact of visual load on auditory processing of emotional stimuli remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate cross-modal effects of visual perceptual load on brain activation to threat-related auditory stimuli.
To examine how visual task difficulty modulates neural responses to angry versus neutral voices.

Main Methods:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed.
Participants performed easy or demanding visual tasks.
Brain responses to angry and neutral vocal prosody were measured.

Main Results:

An easy visual task enhanced activation in the right superior temporal region for angry versus neutral voices.
This effect of emotional prosody was abolished under a demanding visual task.
High visual load prevented increased processing of emotional vocal cues.

Conclusions:

Cross-modal perceptual load significantly modulates auditory cortex activation to emotional voices.
Demanding visual tasks can suppress the neural processing of emotional prosody, demonstrating a cross-modal interaction.