title: Improved emotional conflict control triggered by the processing priority of negative emotion.
abstract: The prefrontal cortex is responsible for emotional conflict resolution, and this control mechanism is affected by the emotional valence of distracting stimuli. In the present study, we investigated effects of negative and positive stimuli on emotional conflict control using a face-word Stroop task in combination with functional brain imaging. Emotional conflict was absent in the negative face context, in accordance with the null activation observed in areas regarding emotional face processing (fusiform face area, middle temporal/occipital gyrus). Importantly, these visual areas negatively coupled with the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). However, the significant emotional conflict was observed in the positive face context, this effect was accompanied by activation in areas associated with emotional face processing, and the default mode network (DMN), here, DLPFC mainly negatively coupled with DMN, rather than visual areas. These results suggested that the conflict control mechanism exerted differently between negative faces and positive faces, it implemented more efficiently in the negative face condition, whereas it is more devoted to inhibiting internal interference in the positive face condition. This study thus provides a plausible mechanism of emotional conflict resolution that the rapid pathway for negative emotion processing efficiently triggers control mechanisms to preventively resolve emotional conflict.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality of Ministry of Education, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chong, Qing, China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality of Ministry of Education, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chong, Qing, China.
authors.forename: Xiangpeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality of Ministry of Education, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chong, Qing, China.
authors.forename: Shouhang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality of Ministry of Education, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chong, Qing, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality of Ministry of Education, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chong, Qing, China.
authors.forename: Jinfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality of Ministry of Education, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chong, Qing, China.
authors.forename: Antao
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D057190:Stroop Test; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult