Emotional modulation of the late positive potential (LPP) generalizes to Chinese individuals

Abstract

Late positive potential (LPP) is an event-related potential (ERP) component involved in emotional processing that has been consistently observed in Caucasians. Previous studies have demonstrated that emotionally arousing pictures typically elicit larger LPPs than neutral pictures. In the present study, we examined whether the emotional content effect on LPPs generalizes to Chinese individuals. Brain potentials were recorded from participants viewing both emotional and neutral pictures from the international affective picture system (IAPS). Our results showed greater LPPs for emotional than for neutral pictures. The effects of both pleasant and unpleasant pictures appeared relatively early, and lasted for up to 6s. In addition, subjective ratings for picture arousal correlated strongly with corresponding LPP amplitudes. These results replicate previous findings in Caucasians, and suggest that the emotion processes underlying the LPP are more universal than cultural-specific in nature.