Word wins over face: emotional Stroop effect activates the frontal cortical network.
The prefrontal cortex (PFC) has been implicated in higher order cognitive control of behavior. Sometimes such control is executed through suppression of an unwanted response in order to avoid conflict. Conflict occurs when two simultaneously competing processes lead to different behavioral outcomes, as seen in tasks such as the anti-saccade, go/no-go, and the Stroop task. We set out to examine whether different types of stimuli in a modified emotional Stroop task would cause similar interference effects as the original Stroop-color/word, and whether the required suppression mechanism(s) would recruit similar regions of the medial PFC (mPFC). By using emotional words and emotional faces in this Stroop experiment, we examined the two well-learned automatic behaviors of word reading and recognition of face expressions. In our emotional Stroop paradigm, words were processed faster than face expressions with incongruent trials yielding longer reaction times and larger number of errors compared to the congruent trials. This novel Stroop effect activated the anterior and inferior regions of the mPFC, namely the anterior cingulate cortex, inferior frontal gyrus as well as the superior frontal gyrus. Our results suggest that prepotent behaviors such as reading and recognition of face expressions are stimulus-dependent and perhaps hierarchical, hence recruiting distinct regions of the mPFC. Moreover, the faster processing of word reading compared to reporting face expressions is indicative of the formation of stronger stimulus-response associations of an over-learned behavior compared to an instinctive one, which could alternatively be explained through the distinction between awareness and selective attention.
Department of Psychology, Centre for Vision Research, York University Toronto, ON, Canada. desouza@yorku.ca
Shima
S
Ovaysikia
Khalid A
KA
Tahir
Jason L
JL
Chan
Joseph F X
JF
DeSouza
Rev Neurosci. 1999;10(1):49-57
10356991
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Jan;87(1):256-9
2296583
Neuroimage. 2004 Jul;22(3):1151-6
15219587
Science. 2000 Jun 9;288(5472):1835-8
10846167
J Cogn Neurosci. 2005 Sep;17(9):1483-96
16197701
Annu Rev Neurosci. 2001;24:167-202
11283309
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2003 Apr;985:348-55
12724170
Neuron. 2007 Jun 7;54(5):697-711
17553420
Neuroimage. 2006 Feb 1;29(3):721-33
16249100
Eur J Neurosci. 1998 Mar;10(3):1209-13
9753190
Brain Topogr. 2002 Summer;14(4):313-32
12137364
Neuron. 2002 Jan 17;33(2):301-11
11804576
Neuropsychologia. 1995 Mar;33(3):341-52
7792000
Brain. 2005 Apr;128(Pt 4):788-96
15705613
J Neurosci. 1995 Oct;15(10):6905-18
7472447
Brain Res Cogn Brain Res. 2001 Dec;12(3):467-73
11689307
Child Dev. 1983 Jun;54(3):702-9
6851717
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1996 Jan 23;93(2):922-7
8570661
Biol Psychiatry. 2005 Feb 1;57(3):210-9
15691521
Cereb Cortex. 1991 Jan-Feb;1(1):1-47
1822724
Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2001 Dec;11(6):663-72
11741015
Psychol Bull. 1991 Mar;109(2):163-203
2034749
Hum Brain Mapp. 2000 Jul;10(3):120-31
10912591
Hum Brain Mapp. 2001 Mar;12(3):131-43
11170305
Nat Rev Neurosci. 2001 Nov;2(11):820-9
11715058
Brain. 2009 Mar;132(Pt 3):617-27
18971202
J Neurophysiol. 2000 Jul;84(1):451-9
10899218
Neuroimage. 2008 Mar 1;40(1):298-307
18178107
J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 1996 Aug;22(4):892-903
8756957
Proc Biol Sci. 1998 Oct 22;265(1409):1927-31
9821359
Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2009 Feb;19(1):39-44
19339171
Annu Rev Neurosci. 1995;18:193-222
7605061
Neuropsychologia. 1993 Sep;31(9):907-22
8232848
Neuropsychology. 1998 Jul;12(3):446-58
9673999
Brain Res Cogn Brain Res. 2005 Jul;24(2):335-42
15993771
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 Jan 30;98(3):1273-6
11158629
Nature. 1997 Nov 27;390(6658):398-401
9389478
Science. 1998 May 1;280(5364):747-9
9563953
Hum Brain Mapp. 1998;6(4):270-82
9704265
Exp Brain Res. 1999 Jun;126(3):315-35
10382618
J Neurophysiol. 2003 Feb;89(2):1016-23
12574477
Nature. 2001 Jun 21;411(6840):953-6
11418860
Neuroimage. 2004 Oct;23(2):483-99
15488398
Hum Brain Mapp. 2009 May;30(5):1605-14
18661503
Nat Neurosci. 2007 Sep;10(9):1214-21
17676057
Nat Neurosci. 1999 Jan;2(1):11-2
10195173
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2007 Sep;2(3):240-50
18985144
Neuroimage. 2001 Jan;13(1):29-36
11133306
Science. 2009 May 29;324(5931):1207-10
19478185
Science. 1993 Jul 23;261(5120):475-7
8332914
Science. 2003 Oct 3;302(5642):120-2
14526085
Neuroscience. 2004;129(2):361-9
15501593
Trends Cogn Sci. 2003 Jan;7(1):12-18
12517353
Psychiatry Res. 2004 Jul 30;131(2):147-55
15313521
Trends Cogn Sci. 2004 Dec;8(12):539-46
15556023
Neuroimage. 2001 Feb;13(2):250-61
11162266
J Cogn Neurosci. 2009 Nov;21(11):2047-72
19485699
Vision Res. 1978;18(10):1279-96
726270
J Neurosci. 2009 Sep 16;29(37):11560-71
19759303
Neuropsychologia. 1974 Jul;12(3):323-30
4421777
Cereb Cortex. 2001 Sep;11(9):837-48
11532889
Cogn Neuropsychol. 2000 Feb 1;17(1):187-99
20945179
Science. 2004 Feb 13;303(5660):1023-6
14963333
Cortex. 2009 Feb;45(2):189-200
19150520
Nat Rev Neurosci. 2000 Oct;1(1):59-65
11252769
Brain Res Cogn Brain Res. 2003 Jul;17(2):212-22
12880892
Neuron. 2002 Oct 10;36(2):309-22
12383784
Neuropsychologia. 1983;21(5):555-65
6646407
Science. 1997 Nov 7;278(5340):1135-8
9353197
Nat Rev Neurosci. 2009 Sep;10(9):659-69
19672274
Cogn Neuropsychol. 2000 Feb 1;17(1):117-23
20945175