Emotion word processing: effects of emotional valence and arousal on behavioural and electrophysiological measures

The Conference program & abstracts' website is located at http://www.psycholinguistics.com/amlap/schedule/files/NEW_____AMLAP_PROG%20NEW.pdfInteractions Beyond Language - O31Emotion is characterised by a two-dimensional structure: valence describes the extent to which an emotion is positive or negative, whereas arousal refers to the intensity of an emotion, how exciting or calming it is. It is known that the emotional content of verbal material influences cognitive processing during lexical decision, naming, emotional Stroop task and many others (see Citron et al., 2009). Converging findings showed that emotionally valenced words (positive or negative) are processed faster than neutral words, as shown by reaction time and ERP measures, suggesting a prioritisation of emotional stimuli (Scott et al., 2009). Other studies report slower recognition of negative words compared to positive words suggesting an additional effect of automatic vigilance (Algom et al., 2004). These latter studies, though, failed to control for important lexical and semantic features of single words (Larsen et al., 2006). Furthermore, few studies have considered the effects of emotional arousal on word recognition and the relationship between emotional valence and arous…postprin

First-Person Perspective Effects on Theory of Mind without Self-Reference

This study examined dissociations between brain networks involved in theory of mind, which is needed for guessing others' mental states, and the self, which might constitute the basis for theory of mind's development. We used event-related fMRI to compare a condition that required participants to guess the mental state of a subject featured in first-person perspective sentences (1stPP condition) with a third-person perspective sentence condition (3rdPP condition). The caudate nucleus was marginally more activated in the 1stPP than in the 3rdPP condition, while the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) was significantly more activated in the 3rdPP condition as compared to the 1stPP condition. Furthermore, we examined the correlation between activation (signal intensity) of the caudate nucleus and left DLPFC with that of the right DLPFC, which is thought to be closely connected with sense of self. We found a significant correlation between caudate nucleus and right DLPFC activation in the 1stPP condition, and between left and right DLPFC activation in the 3rdPP condition. Although theory of mind and the self both appear to recruit the right DLPFC, this region seems to be accessed through the left DLPFC during theory of mind tasks, but through the caudate nucleus when tasks require self reference

Expert Financial Advice Neurobiologically “Offloads” Financial Decision-Making under Risk

BACKGROUND: Financial advice from experts is commonly sought during times of uncertainty. While the field of neuroeconomics has made considerable progress in understanding the neurobiological basis of risky decision-making, the neural mechanisms through which external information, such as advice, is integrated during decision-making are poorly understood. In the current experiment, we investigated the neurobiological basis of the influence of expert advice on financial decisions under risk. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: While undergoing fMRI scanning, participants made a series of financial choices between a certain payment and a lottery. Choices were made in two conditions: 1) advice from a financial expert about which choice to make was displayed (MES condition); and 2) no advice was displayed (NOM condition). Behavioral results showed a significant effect of expert advice. Specifically, probability weighting functions changed in the direction of the expert's advice. This was paralleled by neural activation patterns. Brain activations showing significant correlations with valuation (parametric modulation by value of lottery/sure win) were obtained in the absence of the expert's advice (NOM) in intraparietal sulcus, posterior cingulate cortex, cuneus, precuneus, inferior frontal gyrus and middle temporal gyrus. Notably, no significant correlations with value were obtained in the presence of advice (MES). These findings were corroborated by region of interest analyses. Neural equivalents of probability weighting functions showed significant flattening in the MES compared to the NOM condition in regions associated with probability weighting, including anterior cingulate cortex, dorsolateral PFC, thalamus, medial occipital gyrus and anterior insula. Finally, during the MES condition, significant activations in temporoparietal junction and medial PFC were obtained. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results support the hypothesis that one effect of expert advice is to "offload" the calculation of value of decision options from the individual's brain

Creativity and the Social Brain

The neuroscience of imagination has revealed extensive parallels between the brain correlates of creative cognition and those of social cognition. There is, however, scarcely any exchange of ideas between the different research communities that is aimed at understanding what such commonalities reveal. The evidence indicates that there are some fundamental similarities in very nature of the information processing mechanisms that underlie cognitive and social aspects of mental life that are customarily viewed to be quite distinct from one another. This chapter features reflections on these similarities by generating cross-connections between current knowledge on creative cognition and social cognition. Themes that are explored include candidate mechanisms of correspondences between creativity and social behaviour, such as the ‘intention to communicate’ (by means of expression), the ‘intention to understand’ (by means of inference and discovery), and the ‘personal relevance bias’ (by means of alertness to self-related salience and significance)

Disentangling valence and arousal effects during emotion word processing

This journal supplement is Special issue of abstracts for the 49th SPR Annual MeetingEmotional content affects early processing of words. Scott et al. (2009) manipulated word valence and frequency in a lexical decision task (LDT) in an ERP study. They found P1 was greater for frequent positive and neutral words than frequent negative words and a reversed interaction at N1 with an early Posterior Negativity that was greater for valenced than neutral words. However, emotional arousal of stimuli was not manipulated. The aim of this study was to disentangle the effects of both valence and arousal. 28 English native speakers performed a LDT while EEG was recorded. 150 words (Citron et al., in press) were presented: 50 positive, 50 negative, and 50 neutral. Half of the valenced words were high (HA) and half low (LA) in arousal. EEG was recorded using a 128-channel Net (EGI, Eugene, Oregon). Impedance was kept below 50 k?. Sampling rate was 250 Hz. EEG was band-pass filtered between 0.3 and 40 Hz and segmented from 100 ms before to 1300 ms after stimulus onset. Segments were baseline corrected and re-referenced to the mastoids. Reaction times (RTs) showed main effects of valence and arousal and an interaction between arousal and valence.link_to_OA_fulltextThe 49th Annual Meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research (SPR), Berlin, Germany, 21-24 October 2009. In Psychophysiology, 2009, v. 46 n. s1, p. S86, Poster 15

How are affective word ratings related to lexicosemantic properties? Evidence from the Sussex Affective Word List

Emotional content of verbal material affects the speed of visual word recognition in various cognitive tasks, independently of lexicosemantic variables. However, little is known about how the dimensions of emotional arousal and valence interact with the lexicosemantic properties of words such as age of acquisition, familiarity, and imageability, that determine word recognition performance. This study aimed to examine these relationships using English ratings for affective and lexicosemantic features. Eighty-two native English speakers rated 300 words for emotional valence, arousal, familiarity, age of acquisition, and imageability. Although both dimensions of emotion were correlated with lexicosemantic variables, a unique emotion cluster produced the strongest quadratic relationship. This finding suggests that emotion should be included in models of word recognition as it is likely to make an independent contribution

Arousal and emotional valence interact in written word recognition

Behavioural and neurophysiological studies reveal a prioritisation for emotional material during different cognitive tasks. Although emotion comprises two dimensions, i.e., valence and arousal, previous research has mostly focused on the former. This study aimed to investigate the effects of valence and arousal on lexical decision (LD) by manipulating both dimensions, while controlling correlated psycholinguistic variables (e.g., word length, frequency, imageability). Results showed that valence and arousal affect word recognition in an interactive way: LD latencies are slower for positive high-arousal and negative low-arousal words compared to positive low-arousal and negative high-arousal words, in line with an approach-withdrawal tendency model. Furthermore, principal component and regression analyses revealed a unique contribution of a cluster of emotion variables, independent of lexico-semantic variables, to explaining LD latencies. We conclude that emotional valence and arousal both need to be taken into account in studies of word processing as they show an interactive relationship

Lexical processing of emotion words: ERP indexes of an early interaction between emotional valence and arousal

Slide Session BEmotion recognition has been characterised according to a two-dimensional structure: valence describes the extent to which an emotion is positive or negative and arousal refers to the intensity of an emotion i.e. how exciting or calming it is. It is known that the emotional content of verbal material influences cognitive processing on a range of experimental tasks testing recollection memory, language comprehension and face processing. More recent work has also shown that emotionally valenced single words (positive or negative) tend to be processed faster than neutral words, as revealed by lexical decision latencies and event-related potentials (ERPs). These results suggest that emotional content affects word recognition (Scott et al., 2009). However, other studies report slower recognition of negative words compared to positive words suggesting an additional effect of automatic vigilance (Algom et al., 2004). These contradictory results are likely due to lack of control over important lexical and semantic features of single words (Larsen et al., 2006). Furthermore, few studies have considered the effects of emotional arousal on word recognition and the relationship between emotional valence and arousal (Kanske & Kotz, 2007; Kissler et al., 2009). This is a critical question given recent brain imaging data showing that valence modulates the increase in activation due to increasing arousal at the neural level (Lewes et al., 2007). The aim of the present study was to disentangle the effects of valence and arousal on word recog-nition and to determine at what stage of processing emotional effects take place; in an ERP experiment both variables were manipulated and a direct measure of lexical access was used, namely lexical decision. Reaction time results showed a significant effect of arousal and a significant interaction between arousal and valence: high arousal words were responded to faster than low arousal words, and this difference was more pronounced for negative words. There was no effect of valence once correlated lexical variables were controlled. ERP data were examined for early posterior negativity (EPN), a component showed to index discrimination between valenced and neutral stimuli. An interaction was observed on this component between 200-300 ms, with higher amplitudes for both negative-low arousal and positive-high arousal words. Although no previous study has tested for interactions between valence and arousal, the present results suggest a higher processing load for emotionally conflicting stimuli which elicit contrasting reactions (Robinson et al., 2004). Specifically, positively valenced and low arousal words both elicit an approach schema (mental set) whereas negatively valenced and high arousal words both elicit an avoidance mental set. More generally, the ERP results suggest that valence and arousal interact at a relatively early stage of lexical access. Our findings highlight the importance of emotional arousal and suggest that accounts of emotion effects on word recognition must integrate both valence and arousal in models of early lexical access. Implications for understanding effects of valence and arousal in affective disorders, neuropsychology and rehabilitation will be outlined. References: Algom, D., Chajut, E. & Lev, S. (2004). A rational look at the emotional Stroop phenomenon: A generic slowdown, not a Stroop effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 133, 323-338. Kanske, P. & Kotz, S.A. (2007). Concreteness in emotional words: ERP evidence from a hemifield study. Brain Research, 1148, 138-148. Kissler, J., Herbert, C., Winkler, I. & Junghofer, M. (2009). Emotion and attention in visual word processing ñ An ERP study. Biological Psychology, 80, 75-83. Larsen, R.J., Mercer, K.A. & Balota, D.A. (2006). Lexical characteristics of words used in emotional Stroop experiments, Emotion, 6, 62-72. Lewis, P.A., Critchley, H.D., Rotshtein, P., & Dolan, R.J. (2007). Neural correlates of processing valence and arousal in affective words. Cerebral Cortex, 17, 742-748. Robinson, M.D., Storbeck, J., Meier, B.P. & Kirkeby, B.S. (2004). Watch out! That could be dangerous: Valence-arousal interactions in evaluative processing. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 1472- 1484. Scott, G.G., OíDonnell, P.J., Leuthold, H. & Sereno, S.C. (2009). Early emotion word processing: Evidence from event-related potentials. Biological Psychology, 80, 95-104

Interaction between emotional valence and arousal during lexical processing: neural evidence for an integrated approach-withdrawal framework

Poster Session II: PS-2.35link_to_OA_fulltextThe 10th International Symposium of Psycholinguistics, Donostia, San Sebastián, Spain, 13-16 April 2011. In Abstract Book of the 10th International Symposium of Psycholinguistics, 2011, p. 14