Aversive picture processing: effects of a concurrent task on sustained defensive system engagement.
Viewing a series of aversive pictures prompts emotional reactivity reflecting sustained defensive engagement. The present study examined the effects of a concurrent visual task on autonomic, somatic, electrocortical, and facial components of this defensive state. Results indicated that emotional activation was largely preserved despite continuous visual distraction, although evidence of attenuation was observed in startle reflex and electrocortical measures. Concurrent task-specific reactivity was also apparent, suggesting that motivational circuits can be simultaneously activated by stimuli with intrinsic survival significance and instructed task significance and that these processes interact differently across the separate components of defensive engagement.
NIMH Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32608, USA. wangelin@ufl.edu
Bethany C
BC
Wangelin
Andreas
A
Löw
Lisa M
LM
McTeague
Margaret M
MM
Bradley
Peter J
PJ
Lang
D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004576:Electromyography; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000502:physiology; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000502:physiology*