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. 2026 Feb;27(1):133-142.
doi: 10.1007/s10339-025-01294-5. Epub 2025 Aug 12.

Affective distraction by emotional arousal during visual attention: a comparative study with young and older adults

José Bourbon-Teles  1   2 , Pedro J Rosa  3   4 , Anna Valente  3 , Victoria Rosa  3 , Jorge Oliveira  3
Affiliations

Affective distraction by emotional arousal during visual attention: a comparative study with young and older adults

José Bourbon-Teles et al. Cogn Process. 2026 Feb.

Abstract

Irrelevant affective/emotional stimuli for a given cognitive task can interfere with visual attention. Some studies indicate that emotionally arousing stimuli can unintentionally divert attention and act as sources of distraction This study aimed to test, regardless of the valence factor, the impact of emotional arousal on attentional interference in young adults and older adults. The interference of arousal (high-arousing vs. low-arousing vs. /neutral) was examined through behavioural measures, specifically response times and response error rates. The results revealed that arousal modulates attention differently across age groups. Older adults showed a facilitation effect in the presence of low-arousal stimuli, improving their cognitive performance compared to high and neutral arousing stimuli. By comparison, no significant effects of arousal on cognitive performance were observed in young adults. These findings highlight the differential role of emotional arousal in attentional performance across the lifespan, most notably its facilitation effect in older age, and underscore the relevance of considering arousal when developing strategies to support cognitive functioning in healthy aging.

Keywords: Aging; Distraction; Emotional arousal; Hedonic valence; Visual attention.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors report no conflict of interest. Ethical approval: This study was approved (or granted exemption) by the appropriate institutional and/or national research ethics committee (Ethics Committee of the Lusófona University) and was performed in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Human and animal rights: This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Illustrates the stimulus presentation task. The figure depicts an incongruent type of stimulus trial
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Mean RTs in seconds as a function of arousal level (high, low, neutral) and age group (young vs. older adults). Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Mean error rates as a function of arousal level (high, low, neutral) and age group (young vs. older adults). Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Mean error rates as a function of congruency (congruent vs. incongruent) and age group (young vs. older adults). Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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