Goal-directed behavior under emotional distraction is preserved by enhanced task-specific activation

Abstract

Despite the distracting effects of emotional stimuli on concurrent task performance, humans are able to uphold goal-directed behavior. Here, we investigated the hypothesis that this effect is due to the enhanced recruitment of task-specific neural resources. In a two-step functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we first localized those areas involved in mental arithmetics by contrasting arithmetic problems with a number detection task. The resulting activation maps were then used as masks in a second experiment that compared the effects of neutral and emotional distracter images on mental arithmetics. We found increased response times in the emotional distracter condition, accompanied by enhanced activation in task-specific areas, including superior parietal cortex, dorsolateral and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. This activation increase correlated with larger behavioral impairment through emotional distraction. Similar error rates in both conditions indicate that cognitive task performance is preserved through enhanced recruitment of task-specific neural resources when emotional distracter stimuli are present.

Fig. 1

Sequence of events in a trial of the localizer (A) and the experimental task (B). The example pictures resemble those in the experiment, but are not part of the IAPS.

Fig. 2

Activations for mental arithmetics on emotional vs neutral distracters in viewed from the right (A) and the left side (B) and from above (C). Reaction times in the experimental task (D) and correlations of the reaction time difference and activation differences between emotional and neutral trials in left (E) and right (F) superior parietal cortex, superior medial frontal cortex (G), left (H) and right (I) superior frontal, and left (J) and right (K) middle frontal cortex.