Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 27, 2026
Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition
Published on: February 1, 2012
Low attentional engagement makes attention network activity susceptible to emotional interference
Verónica Mäki-Marttunen1, Natasha Pickard, Anne-Kristin Solbakk
1aBehavioral Neurology Research Unit, Department of Neurosciences and Rehabilitation, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland bDepartment of Psychology and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley cJohn Magaddino Neuroscience Laboratory, Saint Mary's College of California, Moraga, California, USA dDepartment of Neurosurgery, Division of Surgery and Clinical Neuroscience, Oslo University Hospital - Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway.
Abstract:
The aim of this study was to investigate whether emotion-attention interaction depends on attentional engagement. To investigate emotional modulation of attention network activation, we used a functional MRI paradigm consisting of a visuospatial attention task with either frequent (high-engagement) or infrequent (low-engagement) targets and intermittent emotional or neutral distractors. The attention task recruited a bilateral frontoparietal network with no emotional interference on network activation when the attentional engagement was high. In contrast, when the attentional engagement was low, the unpleasant stimuli interfered with the activation of the frontoparietal attention network, especially in the right hemisphere. This study provides novel evidence for low attentional engagement making attention control network activation susceptible to emotional interference.
More Related Videos
05:36Central and Divided Visual Field Presentation of Emotional Images to Measure Hemispheric Differences in Motivated Attention
Published on: November 16, 2017
10:38A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions
Published on: July 16, 2015
