Selective visual attention to emotion

Abstract

Visual attention can be voluntarily directed toward stimuli and is attracted by stimuli that are emotionally significant. The present study explored the case when both processes coincide and attention is directed to emotional stimuli. Participants viewed a rapid and continuous stream of high-arousing erotica and mutilation stimuli as well as low-arousing control images. Each of the three stimulus categories served in separate runs as target or nontarget category. Event-related brain potential measures revealed that the interaction of attention and emotion varied for specific processing stages. The effects of attention and emotional significance operated additively during perceptual encoding indexed by negative-going potentials over posterior regions (approximately 200-350 ms after stimulus onset). In contrast, thought to reflect the process of stimulus evaluation, P3 target effects (approximately 400-600 ms after stimulus onset) were markedly augmented when erotica and mutilation compared with control stimuli were the focus of attention. Thus, emotion potentiated attention effects specifically during later stages of processing. These findings suggest to specify the interaction of attention and emotion in distinct processing stages.

Figure 1.

Early differential ERP activity: posterior negative potentials. A, B, Grand-averaged ERP waveforms for a selected right occipital sensor (number 90), difference scalp potential maps, and L2-minimum-norm estimates (L2-MNE) serve to illustrate the main effects of attention (A) and emotion (B). C, ERP waveforms for sensor number 90 and difference scalp potential maps (target − nontarget) for erotica, people, and mutilation picture contents illustrate the additive relationship of attention and emotion. Paying attention to emotion had similar effects for high- and low-arousing stimulus contents. The maps display a right view.

Figure 2.

P3 effects. A, Grand-averaged ERP waveforms for a selected right parietal sensor (number 80) as a function of attention and emotion. B, Difference ERP waves (target − nontarget) collapsed across the left and right P3 sensor clusters for high-arousing erotica and mutilation and low-arousing people picture contents illustrate the synergistic relationship of attention and emotion. Attention effects were potentiated for erotica and mutilation target pictures. C, Display of the scalp potential difference (target − nontarget) separately for the three picture categories (top view). D, L2-minimum-norm estimates (right view) of the scalp potential difference separately for high-arousing emotional (erotica and mutilation) and low-arousing people picture categories.