Being Anxious, Thinking Positively: The Effect of Emotional Context on Respiratory Sensory Gating

Abstract

Respiratory sensory gating function has been found decreased by induced negative emotion in healthy adults. The increased ratio of the respiratory-related evoked potential (RREP) N1 peak amplitude for the second occlusion (S2) vs. the first occlusion (S1), S2/S1, is indicative of such decreased respiratory sensory gating. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that a positive emotional context would enhance respiratory sensory gating function in healthy individuals. In addition, we tested the modulating role of individual anxiety levels. We compared respiratory sensory gating in 40 healthy individuals by the paired inspiratory occlusion paradigm in a positive and neutral emotional context induced by emotional picture viewing. The results showed that the group averaged RREP N1 peak amplitudes S2/S1 ratios were significantly smaller in the positive compared to neutral context (0.49 vs. 0.64; p < 0.01). Further, analysis showed that the ratio decrease was due to a reduced response to the S2 and an enhanced response to S1 in the positive emotional context (p < 0.05). The subgroup analyses showed that in the positive emotional context, both individuals with low-moderate anxiety levels and those with no anxiety demonstrated a significant decrease of their S2/S1 ratio, but only those with low-moderate anxiety levels showed reduced S2 amplitudes compared to the neutral context (p < 0.01). In conclusion, our results suggest that a positive emotional context is related to better brain inhibitory mechanisms by filtering out repetitive respiratory stimuli in healthy individuals, especially in the presence of low-moderate anxiety levels. Further, investigation on how positive emotional contexts might contribute to improved respiratory sensory gating ability in clinical populations is necessary.

Keywords: anxiety; positive emotional context; respiratory sensation; respiratory sensory gating; respiratory-related evoked potential (RREP).

Figure 1

A schematic representation for the position of electrodes for EEG recordings.

Figure 2

Group averaged (N = 40) waveform from the C4 electrode. The black solid and dotted lines represent the averaged S1 and S2 waveforms in the neutral context, respectively. The gray solid and dotted lines represent the averaged S2 waveforms, respectively, in the positive context.

Figure 3

The group averaged (± SE) (N = 40) RREP N1 peak gating ratios at the Cz, C3, and C4 electrodes. The asterisk indicates a significant difference between the two emotional contexts (p < 0.05).

Figure 4

The RREP N1 peak gating ratios (average ± SE) at the C4 electrode in the LMA (N = 20) and NA (N = 20) subjects in the subgroup analysis. The asterisk indicates a statistical difference between the two emotional contexts (p < 0.05).