title: Cross-modal attention capture by affective stimuli: evidence from event-related potentials.
abstract: The P3 component of the event-related potential (ERP) to an acoustic startle probe is modulated during picture viewing, with reduced P3 amplitude when participants view either pleasant or unpleasant, as opposed to neutral, pictures. We have interpreted this as reflecting capture of attentional resources by affective pictures, with fewer resources available for processing the secondary startle probe. In the present study, we tested this resource allocation hypothesis by presenting either pictures or sounds as foreground stimuli, with the prediction that P3 amplitude in response to secondary startle probes would be reduced for affectively engaging foregrounds regardless of modality. Using dense-array electroencephalography and a source estimation procedure, we observed that P3 amplitude was indeed smaller when startle probes were presented during emotional, as opposed to neutral, stimuli for both sound and picture foregrounds. Source modeling indicated a common frontocentral maximum of P3 modulation by affect. The data support the notion that emotionally arousing stimuli transmodally attract resources, leading to optimized processing of the affective stimuli at the cost of the processing of concurrent stimuli.
authors.affiliation: University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA. andreas.keil@uni-konstanz.de
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Keil
authors.forename: Margaret M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Bradley
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Junghöfer
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Russmann
authors.forename: Wiliam
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lowenthal
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Lang
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008959:Models, Neurological; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012016:Reference Values; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*