Bad things come easier to the mind but harder to the body: Evidence from brain oscillations

Abstract

An intriguing finding of research on emotional processing is a discrepancy between perception and behavior. Perceptually, a robust finding is that negative stimuli are processed faster and more efficiently than positive stimuli. Behaviorally, a similarly robust finding is that response times are slower for negative than for positive stimuli. We proposed and tested a novel account to explain this still unexplained discrepancy, on the basis of the assumption that negative valence narrows perceptual processes to the benefit of speeded perception, but broadens motor processes at the cost of slowed responding. Participants performed a valence judgment task in which they responded with their left or right hand to negative and positive stimuli that were presented on the left or right, and we measured the activation of relevant/deactivation of irrelevant perceptual and motor processes, as revealed by the lateralization of electroencephalographic brain oscillations. Stimulus-related lateralization of alpha activity (8-12 Hz) over perceptual areas was increased for negative stimuli, indicating more efficient perceptual processing. By contrast, response-related lateralization of beta activity (20-25 Hz) over motor areas was decreased for negative stimuli, indicating less efficient response activation. Consistent with our predictions, more detailed analyses showed that both lateralization effects were caused by dynamics at the level of inhibiting irrelevant processes. For negative as compared to positive stimuli, the inhibition of irrelevant perceptual processes was increased, but the inhibition of irrelevant motor processes was decreased.These findings indicate that the discrepancy between perception and behavior in emotional processing may stem from asymmetrical effects of emotional valence on the breadth of cortical activations in perceptual and motor networks.

Alexithymia and the Evaluation of Emotionally Valenced Scenes

“…These findings are important, as superior processing of negative stimuli is often emphasized in the literature, given the obvious evolutionarily advantages it confers (Borgomaneri et al, 2014). It is possible that our participants were quick to attend to negative stimuli, but had more difficulty classifying these stimuli due to the larger number of response options that must be weighed when one is in an unpleasant situation (e.g., positive stimuli generally motivate approach, whereas negative stimuli can motivate approach, avoidance, or freezing responses; Kuhbandner et al, 2016;Roelofs, 2017). Incorporating eye-tracking in future studies could help to assess individual differences in how quickly attention is deployed to particular features in scenes.…”

“…These findings suggest that pleasantness acts as a general "safety signal" (motivating approach), whereas arousing, unpleasant stimuli signal the need to respond carefully to avoid making errors that might place one in danger. Whether an approach, an avoidance, or a freezing response is most appropriate will depend on the particular situation (Kuhbandner et al, 2016;Roelofs, 2017). In this respect, the processing of negatively valenced scenes may be considered more complex than the processing of positively valenced scenes.…”

Changes in latency of brain rhythms in response to affective information of visual stimuli

“…If a frequency of neural oscillations is modulated by affective information, this would be measured as a main effect or interaction of 2-by-2 ANOVA on mean IPIs. In light of the previous studies reporting the speeded perception of affective stimuli (Kuhbandner et al, 2016;Ohman et al, 2001), we predict that a prominent reduction in IPIs would be caused by a presentation of high-arousal & negative pictures (e.g. snakes and spiders) because of a potential threat conveyed by those images (LeDoux, 2000;Morris, Ohman, & Dolan, 1999).…”

“…The present results of the IPI analysis were consistent with previous studies measuring behavioral responses to affective stimuli. Emotionally-negative words are generally processed faster and more efficiently than positive words (Dijksterhuis & Aarts, 2003;Kuhbandner et al, 2016;Nasrallah, Carmel, & Lavie, 2009). Some studies also reported a speeded perception of high-arousal & negative stimuli (Hofmann, Kuchinke, Tamm, Vo, & Jacobs, 2009;Ohman et al, 2001).…”

“…Behavioral studies reporting a speeded perception of emotionally-arousing stimuli (Kuhbandner, Spachtholz, & Pastotter, 2016;Ohman et al, 2001) predict that neural activity in the cortical and subcortical regions would be temporally facilitated (accelerated) by affective information. Using a high-temporal resolution of electroencephalography (EEG), a number of studies have tested this prediction by recording event-related potentials (ERPs) and steady-state visually-evoked potentials (SSVEPs) to emotional pictures.…”