title: Aversive emotional interference impacts behavior and prefronto-striatal activity during increasing attentional control.
abstract: Earlier studies have demonstrated that emotional stimulation modulates attentional processing during goal-directed behavior and related activity of a brain network including the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the caudate nucleus. However, it is not clear how emotional interference modulates behavior and brain physiology during variation in attentional control, a relevant question for everyday life situations in which both emotional stimuli and cognitive load vary. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of negative emotions on behavior and activity in IFG and caudate nucleus during increasing levels of attentional control. Twenty two healthy subjects underwent event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a task in which neutral or fearful facial expressions were displayed before stimuli eliciting increasing levels of attentional control processing. Results indicated slower reaction time (RT) and greater right IFG activity when fearful compared with neutral facial expressions preceded the low level of attentional control. On the other hand, fearful facial expressions preceding the intermediate level of attentional control elicited faster behavioral responses and greater activity in the right and left sides of the caudate. Finally, correlation analysis indicated a relationship between behavioral correlates of attentional control after emotional interference and right IFG activity. All together, these results suggest that the impact of negative emotions on attentional processing is differentially elicited at the behavioral and physiological levels as a function of cognitive load.
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari "Aldo Moro" Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Apostolos
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Papazacharias
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari "Aldo Moro" Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Taurisano
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari "Aldo Moro" Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fazio
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari "Aldo Moro" Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gelao
authors.affiliation: IRCCS "Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza", S. Giovanni Rotondo Italy.
authors.forename: Annabella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Giorgio
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari "Aldo Moro" Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Luciana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lo Bianco
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari "Aldo Moro" Bari, Italy ; Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Tiziana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Quarto
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari "Aldo Moro" Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mancini
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari "Aldo Moro" Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Annamaria
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Porcelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari "Aldo Moro" Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Raffaella
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.affiliation: Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Consorziale, Policlinico di Bari Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Grazia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Caforio
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari "Aldo Moro" Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Orlando
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Todarello
authors.affiliation: IRCCS "Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza", S. Giovanni Rotondo Italy.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Popolizio
authors.affiliation: Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Consorziale, Policlinico di Bari Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Blasi
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari "Aldo Moro" Bari, Italy ; pRED, NORD DTA Neuroscience, Hoffman-La Roche Ltd Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bertolino
keywords: attentional control; caudate nucleus; emotion; fMRI; inferior frontal gyrus