title: Electrophysiological spatiotemporal dynamics during implicit visual threat processing.
abstract: Numerous studies have found evidence for corticolimbic theta band electroencephalographic (EEG) oscillations in the neural processing of visual stimuli perceived as threatening. However, varying temporal and topographical patterns have emerged, possibly due to varying arousal levels of the stimuli. In addition, recent studies suggest neural oscillations in delta, theta, alpha, and beta-band frequencies play a functional role in information processing in the brain. This study implemented a data-driven PCA based analysis investigating the spatiotemporal dynamics of electroencephalographic delta, theta, alpha, and beta-band frequencies during an implicit visual threat processing task. While controlling for the arousal dimension (the intensity of emotional activation), we found several spatial and temporal differences for threatening compared to nonthreatening visual images. We detected an early posterior increase in theta power followed by a later frontal increase in theta power, greatest for the threatening condition. There was also a consistent left lateralized beta desynchronization for the threatening condition. Our results provide support for a dynamic corticolimbic network, with theta and beta band activity indexing processes pivotal in visual threat processing.
authors.affiliation: Center for BrainHealth, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2200 West Mockingbird Lane, Dallas, TX 75235, USA. Electronic address: bld095020@utdallas.edu.
authors.forename: Bambi L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: DeLaRosa
authors.affiliation: Center for BrainHealth, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2200 West Mockingbird Lane, Dallas, TX 75235, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Spence
authors.affiliation: Center for BrainHealth, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2200 West Mockingbird Lane, Dallas, TX 75235, USA.
authors.forename: Scott K M
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Shakal
authors.affiliation: Center for BrainHealth, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2200 West Mockingbird Lane, Dallas, TX 75235, USA.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Motes
authors.affiliation: Center for BrainHealth, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2200 West Mockingbird Lane, Dallas, TX 75235, USA.
authors.forename: Clifford S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Calley
authors.affiliation: Center for BrainHealth, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2200 West Mockingbird Lane, Dallas, TX 75235, USA.
authors.forename: Virginia I
authors.initials: VI
authors.lastname: Calley
authors.affiliation: Center for BrainHealth, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2200 West Mockingbird Lane, Dallas, TX 75235, USA; Department of Neurology and Neurotherapeutics, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390, USA. Electronic address: jhart@utdallas.edu.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hart
authors.affiliation: Center for BrainHealth, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2200 West Mockingbird Lane, Dallas, TX 75235, USA; Department of Radiology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 601 North Caroline Street, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Kraut
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Beta; Corticolimbic network; ERSP; Electroencephalography; Theta