title: Curvilinear relationship between phonological working memory load and social-emotional modulation.
abstract: Accumulating evidence suggests that working memory load is an important factor for the interplay between cognitive and facial-affective processing. However, it is unclear how distraction caused by perception of faces interacts with load-related performance. We developed a modified version of the delayed match-to-sample task wherein task-irrelevant facial distracters were presented early in the rehearsal of pseudoword memoranda that varied incrementally in load size (1-syllable, 2-syllables, or 3-syllables). Facial distracters displayed happy, sad, or neutral expressions in Experiment 1 (N=60) and happy, fearful, or neutral expressions in Experiment 2 (N=29). Facial distracters significantly disrupted task performance in the intermediate load condition (2-syllable) but not in the low or high load conditions (1- and 3-syllables, respectively), an interaction replicated and generalised in Experiment 2. All facial distracters disrupted working memory in the intermediate load condition irrespective of valence, suggesting a primary and general effect of distraction caused by faces. However, sad and fearful faces tended to be less disruptive than happy faces, suggesting a secondary and specific valence effect. Working memory appears to be most vulnerable to social-emotional information at intermediate loads. At low loads, spare capacity is capable of accommodating the combinatorial load (1-syllable plus facial distracter), whereas high loads maximised capacity and deprived facial stimuli from occupying working memory slots to cause disruption.
authors.affiliation: VISN-22 Mental Illness, Research, Education and Clinical Centre-MIRECC, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Quintino R
authors.initials: QR
authors.lastname: Mano
authors.forename: Gregory G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Khalima
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bolden
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aupperle
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: Martin P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Paulus
authors.forename: Murray B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Stein
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception; D004644:Emotions; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D014796:Visual Perception