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. 2017 Aug 14;7(1):8068.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-07249-x.

The influence of affective state on exogenous attention to emotional distractors: behavioral and electrophysiological correlates

Alejandra Carboni  1 , Dominique Kessel  2   3 , Almudena Capilla  3 , Luis Carretié  3
Affiliations

The influence of affective state on exogenous attention to emotional distractors: behavioral and electrophysiological correlates

Alejandra Carboni et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

The interplay between exogenous attention to emotional distractors and the baseline affective state has not been well established yet. The present study aimed to explore this issue through behavioral measures and event-related potentials (ERPs). Participants (N = 30) completed a digit categorization task depicted over negative, positive or neutral distractor background pictures, while they experienced negative, positive and neutral affective states elicited by movie scenes. Behavioral results showed higher error rates and longer reaction times for negative distractors than for neutral and positive ones, irrespective of the current emotional state. Neural indices showed that the participants' affective state modulated N1 amplitudes, irrespective of distractor type, while the emotional charge of distractors modulated N2, irrespective of the emotional state. Importantly, an interaction of state and distractor type was observed in LPP. These results demonstrate that exogenous attention to emotional distractors is independent from modulating effects of the emotional baseline state at early, automatic stages of processing. However, attention to emotional distractors and affective state interact at later latencies.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Results obtained for N1. Grand averages are presented at Cz and Pz, where results are clearly visible, depicting all conditions. Significant effects are shown in detail.
Figure 2
Figure 2
N2 results. Grand averages are presented at Cz and Pz, where results are clearly visible, including all conditions. Significant results at each topography are depicted in detail.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Results found in LPP. Grand averages are presented at Pz, where results are clearly visible. Significant interactions are shown in detail.
Figure 4
Figure 4
PCA factor loadings after promax rotation. Lines depict temporal loadings, and topographies represent spatial loadings. Temporal factors showing significant results are highlighted in color.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Schematic illustration of the task (this example shows the neutral block preceded by the neutral movie fragment). Note that these example pictures were not among the experimental stimuli.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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