title: Encouraging expressions affect the brain and alter visual attention.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Very often, encouraging or discouraging expressions are used in competitive contexts, such as sports practice, aiming at provoking an emotional reaction on the listener and, consequently, an effect on subsequent cognition and/or performance. However, the actual efficiency of these expressions has not been tested scientifically.
  
  
  RESULTS
  To fill this gap, we studied the effects of encouraging, discouraging, and neutral expressions on event-related brain electrical activity during a visual selective attention task in which targets were determined by location, shape, and color. Although the expressions preceded the attentional task, both encouraging and discouraging messages elicited a similar long-lasting brain emotional response present during the visuospatial task. In addition, encouraging expressions were able to alter the customary working pattern of the visual attention system for shape selection in the attended location, increasing the P1 and the SP modulations while simultaneously fading away the SN.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This was interpreted as an enhancement of the attentional processes for shape in the attended location after an encouraging expression. It can be stated, therefore, that encouraging expressions, as those used in sport practice, as well as in many other contexts and situations, do seem to be efficient in exerting emotional reactions and measurable effects on cognition.
authors.affiliation: Center for Human Evolution and Behavior, UCM-ISCIII, Madrid, Spain. mmartinloeches@edu.ucm.es
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Martín-Loeches
authors.forename: Alejandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sel
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Casado
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiménez
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Castellanos
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D001288:Attention; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003071:Cognition; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology