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Fernandes-Magalhaes R, Carpio A, Ferrera D, Peláez I, De Lahoz ME, Van Ryckeghem D, Van Damme S, Mercado F. Neural mechanisms underlying attentional bias modification in fibromyalgia patients: a double-blind ERP study. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2024; 274:1197-1213. [PMID: 37980687 DOI: 10.1007/s00406-023-01709-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2023] [Accepted: 10/15/2023] [Indexed: 11/21/2023]
Abstract
There is a growing interest in the potential benefits of attentional bias modification (ABM) training in chronic pain patients. However, studies examining the effectiveness of ABM programs in fibromyalgia patients have demonstrated inconclusive effects on both behavioral indices and clinical symptoms. Additionally, underlying neural dynamics of ABM effects could yield new insights but remain yet unexplored. Current study, therefore, aims to investigate the effects of ABM training on known neural electrophysiological indicators of attentional bias to pain (P2, N2a). Thirty-two fibromyalgia patients were enrolled and randomly assigned to an ABM training (N = 16) or control (N = 16) condition (2 weeks duration). Within the ABM training condition participants performed five sessions consisting of a modified version of the dot-probe task in which patients were trained to avoid facial pain expressions, whereas in the control group participants performed five sessions consisting of a standard version of the dot-probe task. Potential ABM training effects were evaluated by comparing a single pre- and post-treatment session, in which event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in response to both facial expressions and target stimuli. Furthermore, patients filled out a series of self-report questionnaires assessing anxiety, depression, pain-related worrying, fear of pain, fatigue and pain status. After training, results indicated an overall reduction of the amplitude of the P2 component followed by an enhancement of N2a amplitude for the ABM condition compared to control condition. In addition, scores on anxiety and depression decreased in patients assigned to the training condition. However, we found no effects derived from the training on pain-related and fatigue status. Present study offers new insights related to the possible neural mechanisms underlying the effect of ABM training in fibromyalgia. Clinical trial (TRN: NCT05905159) retrospectively registered (30/05/2023).
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberto Fernandes-Magalhaes
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Av. Atenas s/n, 28922, Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain
| | - Alberto Carpio
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Av. Atenas s/n, 28922, Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain
| | - David Ferrera
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Av. Atenas s/n, 28922, Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain
| | - Irene Peláez
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Av. Atenas s/n, 28922, Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain
| | - María Eugenia De Lahoz
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Av. Atenas s/n, 28922, Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain
| | - Dimitri Van Ryckeghem
- Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
- Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
- Department of Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Stefaan Van Damme
- Department of Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Francisco Mercado
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Av. Atenas s/n, 28922, Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain.
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Qiu Y, Dou H, Wang J, Zhang H, Zhang S, Shen D, Li H, Lei Y. Reduced generalization of reward among individuals with subthreshold depression: Behavioral and EEG evidence. Int J Psychophysiol 2024; 200:112339. [PMID: 38554769 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2024.112339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2023] [Revised: 02/19/2024] [Accepted: 03/27/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024]
Abstract
Altered stimulus generalization has been well-documented in anxiety disorders; however, there is a paucity of research investigating this phenomenon in the context of depression. Depression is characterized by impaired reward processing and heightened attention to negative stimuli. It is hypothesized that individuals with depression exhibit reduced generalization of reward stimuli and enhanced generalization of loss stimuli. Nevertheless, no study has examined this process and its underlying neural mechanisms. In the present study, we recruited 25 participants with subthreshold depression (SD group) and 24 age-matched healthy controls (HC group). Participants completed an acquisition task, in which they learned to associate three distinct pure tones (conditioned stimuli, CSs) with a reward, a loss, or no outcome. Subsequently, a generalization session was conducted, during which similar tones (generalization stimuli, GSs) were presented, and participants were required to classify them as a reward tone, a loss tone, or neither. The results revealed that the SD group exhibited reduced generalization errors in the early phase of generalization, suggesting a diminished ability to generalize reward-related stimuli. The event-related potential (ERP) results indicated that the SD group exhibited decreased generalization of positive valence to reward-related GSs and heightened generalization of negative valence to loss-related GSs, as reflected by the N1 and P2 components. However, the late positive potential (LPP) was not modulated by depression in reward generalization or loss generalization. These findings suggested that individuals with subthreshold depression may have a blunted or reduced ability to generalize reward stimuli, shedding light on potential treatment strategies targeting this particular process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiwen Qiu
- College of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China; Center for Neurogenetics, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518057, China
| | - Haoran Dou
- Institution for Brain and Psychological Science, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610066, China; Center for Neurogenetics, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518057, China
| | - Jinxia Wang
- Institution for Brain and Psychological Science, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610066, China; Center for Neurogenetics, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518057, China; Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä 40014, Finland
| | - Huoyin Zhang
- College of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China; Center for Neurogenetics, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518057, China
| | - Shiyunmeng Zhang
- College of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China; Center for Neurogenetics, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518057, China
| | - Die Shen
- College of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China; Center for Neurogenetics, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518057, China
| | - Hong Li
- College of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China; Center for studies of Psychological Applications Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science Key Laboratory of Brain Cognition and Educational Science, Ministry of Education School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China; Center for Neurogenetics, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518057, China.
| | - Yi Lei
- Institution for Brain and Psychological Science, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610066, China; Center for Neurogenetics, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518057, China.
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Ranfaing S, De Zorzi L, Ruyffelaere R, Honoré J, Critchley H, Sequeira H. The impact of attention bias modification training on behavioral and physiological responses. Biol Psychol 2024; 186:108753. [PMID: 38244853 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2024.108753] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2023] [Revised: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 01/22/2024]
Abstract
Attention bias modification training aims to alter attentional deployment to symptom-relevant emotionally salient stimuli. Such training has therapeutic applications in the management of disorders including anxiety, depression, addiction and chronic pain. In emotional reactions, attentional biases interact with autonomically-mediated changes in bodily arousal putatively underpinning affective feeling states. Here we examined the impact of attention bias modification training on behavioral and autonomic reactivity. Fifty-eight participants were divided into two groups. A training group (TR) received attention bias modification training to enhance attention to pleasant visual information, while a control group (CT) performed a procedure that did not modify attentional bias. After training, participants performed an evaluation task in which pairs of emotional and neutral images (unpleasant-neutral, pleasant-neutral, neutral-neutral) were presented, while behavioral (eye movements) and autonomic (skin conductance; heart rate) responses were recorded. At the behavioral level, trained participants were faster to orientate attention to pleasant images, and slower to orientate to unpleasant images. At the autonomic level, trained participants showed attenuated skin conductance responses to unpleasant images, while stronger skin conductance responses were generally associated with higher anxiety. These data argue for the use of attentional training to address both the attentional and the physiological sides of emotional responses, appropriate for anxious and depressive symptomatology, characterized by atypical attentional deployment and autonomic reactivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stéphane Ranfaing
- PSyCOS - ETHICS EA 7446, Université Catholique de Lille, F-59000 Lille, France.
| | - Lucas De Zorzi
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9193 - SCALab - Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, F-59000 Lille, France
| | - Rémi Ruyffelaere
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9193 - SCALab - Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, F-59000 Lille, France
| | - Jacques Honoré
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9193 - SCALab - Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, F-59000 Lille, France
| | - Hugo Critchley
- Psychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, United Kingdom
| | - Henrique Sequeira
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9193 - SCALab - Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, F-59000 Lille, France
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Dennis Tiwary TA, Cho H, Myruski S. Effects of attention bias modification for anxiety: Neurophysiological indices and moderation by symptom severity. Clin Neurophysiol 2023; 147:45-57. [PMID: 36642007 PMCID: PMC9974920 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2022.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2022] [Revised: 12/06/2022] [Accepted: 12/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Attention bias modification (ABM) aims to decrease anxiety symptom severity through the reduction of threat-related attention bias (AB). Individual differences in treatment response and poor measurement reliability of AB have called its clinical promise into question. The current study examined whether individual differences in anxiety severity at baseline moderated treatment response, and employed both behavioral and neurophysiological metrics of AB. METHODS Participants (N = 99) were randomly assigned to four weeks of ABM or placebo control training (PT). Self-reported anxiety symptom severity, and AB metrics and ERPs generated during the dot probe task were collected at baseline (Time 1), one-week post-intervention (Time 5), and at a three-month follow-up (Time 6). RESULTS ABM, relative to PT, reduced ERPs indexing attention discrimination (N170) and increased ERPs indexing salience tracking (P3). Increases in P3 were associated with ABM-related reductions in anxiety. Anxiety severity was reduced following ABM, but only among those with higher baseline anxiety symptom severity. CONCLUSIONS ABM effectively reduced symptom severity among those with higher levels of anxiety, and modulated neurophysiological indices of AB. SIGNIFICANCE Results provide evidence for attention-relevant ERPs as outcomes of ABM treatment responsivity and suggest that ABM may be most beneficial for those with more severe anxiety symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tracy A Dennis Tiwary
- Department of Psychology, Hunter College, City University of New York, USA; Department of Psychology, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, USA.
| | - Hyein Cho
- Department of Neurology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, USA
| | - Sarah Myruski
- Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, USA
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Altered neural correlates of optimal decision-making in individuals with depressive status. Biol Psychol 2023; 176:108462. [PMID: 36410588 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108462] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2022] [Revised: 11/15/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Making optimal decisions by computing risk and benefit is necessary for humans. However, whether individuals with depressive status could utilize the optimal strategy to guide decision and its neural correlates remain unclear. The current study explored these issues by combining a decision task and high temporal-resolution electroencephalogram (EEG). The decision task involved an eight-box trial in which participants successively decided whether to open a box containing a potential reward or punishment, deciding to stop guaranteed they would retain the rewards already accumulated. Theoretically, the optimal strategy in the task was to stop at the fourth box, which had the largest expected value. We found that individuals with depressive status stopped fewer trials at the fourth box, relative to healthy controls, indicating their impaired optimal strategy during decision-making. Moreover, compared to healthy controls, individuals with depressive status showed weaker P2 amplitude and weaker beta-band oscillation at the frontocentral scalp when deciding whether to open the fourth box. Additionally, for healthy controls but not for individuals with depressive status, the P2 amplitude fully mediated the relationship between participants' degree of expected benefit (as reflected by the recreational risk-taking scale) and the frequency of trials stopped at the fourth box. Overall, this study revealed that the P2 amplitude and beta-band oscillation might explain the altered optimal decision-making in individuals with depressive status.
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Li G, Cai X, Yang Q, Cui Q, Huang L, Jing X, Wang Y. A review of attentional bias modification trainings for depression. CNS Neurosci Ther 2022; 29:789-803. [PMID: 36377495 PMCID: PMC9928546 DOI: 10.1111/cns.14022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2022] [Revised: 10/09/2022] [Accepted: 10/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Negative attentional bias is a basic character of depression. The attentional bias modification training (ABMT), being a highly promising and easy-to-use depression intervention technique, has attracted much attention to alleviate depressive symptoms in recent years. However, the effectiveness of ABMT programs was mixed across studies, since it remained unclear the underlying mechanisms of ABMT on alleviating depressive symptoms. We systematically analyzed the main ABMT paradigms to clarify possible mechanisms of effective training and reasons of ineffective training. Valid ABMT programs might alleviate depressive symptoms through regulating self-related rumination or two subcomponents of attentional bias: facilitated attention and impaired attentional disengagement. The reasons for the invalidity of ABMT mainly included the suboptimal design of training procedures, mixed effects of participants' personal characteristics, and the unclear relationship between attentional bias and depression. The ABMT is promising for alleviating depressive symptoms, but training procedures are required to be improved to obtain stable training effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guo Li
- Psychological Research and Counseling CenterSouthwest Jiaotong UniversityChengduChina,Institute of Brain and Psychological SciencesSichuan Normal UniversityChengduChina
| | - Xueli Cai
- Psychological Research and Counseling CenterSouthwest Jiaotong UniversityChengduChina
| | - Qian Yang
- Institute of Brain and Psychological SciencesSichuan Normal UniversityChengduChina
| | - Qian Cui
- School of Public Affairs and AdministrationUniversity of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaChengduChina
| | - Lihui Huang
- Institute of Brain and Psychological SciencesSichuan Normal UniversityChengduChina
| | - Xiujuan Jing
- Tianfu College of Southwestern University of Finance and EconomicsChengduChina
| | - Yifeng Wang
- Institute of Brain and Psychological SciencesSichuan Normal UniversityChengduChina
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David OA, Magurean S. Positive Attention Bias Trained during the Rethink Therapeutic Online Game and Related Improvements in Children and Adolescents' Mental Health. CHILDREN (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 9:children9111600. [PMID: 36360328 PMCID: PMC9688550 DOI: 10.3390/children9111600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2022] [Revised: 10/11/2022] [Accepted: 10/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
Attentional bias towards positive stimuli is considered a resilience factor for mental health and well-being. The aim of the present study was to analyze the effects of an attentional bias training for positive faces in a preventive therapeutic game for children and adolescents. The sample of 54, which consisted of children and adolescents aged between 10-16 years, played the REThink game, which included an attentional bias training level based on the visual search paradigm, where children had the task to quickly find the happy face among other angry faces. We measured mental health, and positive and negative emotions and analyzed their associations between changes in attention bias. Attentional bias indicators demonstrated acceptable reliability and results showed that increases in attentional bias towards positive faces were associated with improvements in children and adolescents' conduct problems, hyperactivity, and peer relationship problems. Overall, our results support the protective role of training attentional bias towards positive faces as part of a preventive therapeutic game for children and adolescents.
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Panier L, Ethridge P, Farrell‐Reeves A, Punturieri C, Kujawa A, Dirks M, Weinberg A. Associations between peer stress in early adolescence and multiple event‐related potentials elicited during social feedback processing. Dev Psychobiol 2022; 64:e22279. [DOI: 10.1002/dev.22279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2021] [Revised: 03/16/2022] [Accepted: 03/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Lidia Panier
- Department of Psychology McGill University Montreal Quebec Canada
| | - Paige Ethridge
- Department of Psychology McGill University Montreal Quebec Canada
| | | | | | - Autumn Kujawa
- Department of Psychological Sciences Vanderbilt University Nashville Tennessee USA
| | - Melanie Dirks
- Department of Psychology McGill University Montreal Quebec Canada
| | - Anna Weinberg
- Department of Psychology McGill University Montreal Quebec Canada
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No change in electrocortical measures of performance monitoring in high trait anxious individuals following multi-session attention bias modification training. NEUROIMAGE: REPORTS 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ynirp.2021.100067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
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Muir AM, Eberhard AC, Walker MS, Bennion A, South M, Larson MJ. Dissociating the effect of reward uncertainty and timing uncertainty on neural indices of reward prediction errors: A reward positivity (RewP) event-related potential (ERP) study. Biol Psychol 2021; 163:108121. [PMID: 34062188 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2021] [Revised: 05/26/2021] [Accepted: 05/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Accurate reward predictions include forecasting both what a reward will be and when a reward will occur. We tested how variations in the certainty of reward outcome and certainty in timing of feedback presentation modulate neural indices of reward prediction errors using the reward positivity (RewP) component of the scalp-recorded brain event-related potential (ERP). In a within-subjects design, seventy-three healthy individuals completed two versions of a cued doors task; one cued the probability of a reward outcome while the other cued the probability of a delay before feedback. Replicating previous results, RewP amplitude was larger for uncertain feedback compared to certain feedback. Additionally, RewP amplitude was differentially associated with uncertainty of presence/absence of reward, but not uncertainty of feedback timing. Findings suggest a dissociation in that RewP amplitude is modulated by reward prediction certainty but is less affected by certainty surrounding timing of feedback.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra M Muir
- Brigham Young University, Department of Psychology, Provo, UT, USA
| | | | - Megan S Walker
- Brigham Young University, Department of Psychology, Provo, UT, USA
| | - Angus Bennion
- University of Georgia, Department of Communication Sciences and Special Education, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Mikle South
- Brigham Young University, Department of Psychology, Provo, UT, USA; Brigham Young University, Neuroscience Center, Provo, UT, USA
| | - Michael J Larson
- Brigham Young University, Department of Psychology, Provo, UT, USA; Brigham Young University, Neuroscience Center, Provo, UT, USA.
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Carlson JM. A systematic review of event-related potentials as outcome measures of attention bias modification. Psychophysiology 2021; 58:e13801. [PMID: 33682161 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2020] [Revised: 02/08/2021] [Accepted: 02/11/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Attention bias modification (ABM) was initially developed with the goal of reducing attentional bias to threat-and subsequently anxious symptoms-in individuals with heightened anxiety. Although controversial, ABM appears to be generally effective in achieving this goal. Yet, the primary outcome measure of ABM (i.e., the reaction time-based differences score) has poor reliability and temporal resolution, which limits the inferences that can be drawn. In contrast, event-related potentials (ERPs) have superior reliability as well as temporal resolution and may therefore be better outcome measures of ABM. In this review, I systematically assess the research using ERPs as outcome measures in ABM protocols. I focus on the extent to which the ERPs modified by ABM represent earlier or later stages of information processing. In addition, I explore the extent to which ABM produces near and/or far transfer of learning effects on ERP measures. The reviewed literature suggests that ERPs are promising outcome measures of ABM. ABM modulates the effects of affective stimuli on posterior visually evoked ERPs (i.e., P1) as well as ERPs at anterior electrodes (i.e., P2, N2, and ERN). Based on the state of the field, several directions for future research are identified.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua M Carlson
- Department of Psychological Science, Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI, USA
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