title: Happy heart, smiling eyes: A systematic review of positive mood effects on broadening of visuospatial attention.
abstract: Positive mood contributes to mental and physical wellbeing. The broaden-and-build theory (Fredrickson, 2001) proposed that the beneficial effects of positive mood on life quality result from attentional broadening. In this article, we systematically review (following PRISMA guidelines; Moher et al., 2009), a host of studies investigating the nature and extent of attentional changes triggered by the experience of positive mood, with a focus on vision. While several studies reported a broadening of attention, others found that positive mood led to a more diffuse information processing style. Positive mood appears to lessen attention selectivity in a way that is context-specific and bound to limitations. We propose a new framework in which we postulate that positive mood impacts the balance between internally and externally directed attention, through modulations of cognitive control processes, instead of broadening attention per se. This novel model is able to accommodate discrepant findings, seeks to translate the phenomenon of the so-called broadening of attention with positive mood into functional terms, and provides plausible neurobiological mechanisms underlying this effect, suggesting a crucial role of the anterior and posterior cingulate cortex in this interaction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental, Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, B-9000, Ghent, Belgium; Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, B-9000, Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: naomi.vanlessen@ugent.be.
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Vanlessen
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental, Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, B-9000, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Rudi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: De Raedt
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental, Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, B-9000, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Ernst H W
authors.initials: EHW
authors.lastname: Koster
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental, Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, B-9000, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Gilles
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pourtois
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect; D001288:Attention; D006240:Happiness; D006801:Humans; D012904:Smiling
keywords: Anterior and posterior cingulate cortex; Broadening of attention; Cognitive control; Positive mood; Reward; Selective attention; Visual perception