1
|
Garfinkel SN, Zorab E, Navaratnam N, Engels M, Mallorquí-Bagué N, Minati L, Dowell NG, Brosschot JF, Thayer JF, Critchley HD. Anger in brain and body: the neural and physiological perturbation of decision-making by emotion. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2015; 11:150-8. [PMID: 26253525 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsv099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2014] [Accepted: 07/30/2015] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Emotion and cognition are dynamically coupled to bodily arousal: the induction of anger, even unconsciously, can reprioritise neural and physiological resources toward action states that bias cognitive processes. Here we examine behavioural, neural and bodily effects of covert anger processing and its influence on cognition, indexed by lexical decision-making. While recording beat-to-beat blood pressure, the words ANGER or RELAX were presented subliminally just prior to rapid word/non-word reaction-time judgements of letter-strings. Subliminal ANGER primes delayed the time taken to reach rapid lexical decisions, relative to RELAX primes. However, individuals with high trait anger were speeded up by subliminal anger primes. ANGER primes increased systolic blood pressure and the magnitude of this increase predicted reaction time prolongation. Within the brain, ANGER trials evoked an enhancement of activity within dorsal pons and an attenuation of activity within visual occipitotemporal and attentional parietal cortices. Activity within periaqueductal grey matter, occipital and parietal regions increased linearly with evoked blood pressure changes, indicating neural substrates through which covert anger impairs semantic decisions, putatively through its expression as visceral arousal. The behavioural and physiological impact of anger states compromises the efficiency of cognitive processing through action-ready changes in autonomic response that skew regional neural activity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sarah N Garfinkel
- Division of Medicine, Psychiatry, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Falmer BN1 9RR, UK, Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, Falmer BN1 9RR, UK,
| | - Emma Zorab
- Division of Medicine, Psychiatry, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Falmer BN1 9RR, UK
| | - Nakulan Navaratnam
- Division of Medicine, Psychiatry, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Falmer BN1 9RR, UK
| | - Miriam Engels
- Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Núria Mallorquí-Bagué
- Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, School of Medicine, Campus de la Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain, Department of Psychiatry, Psychology and Psychosomatic Medicine, Institut Universitari Quirón Dexeus, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ludovico Minati
- U.O. Direzione Scientifica, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy
| | - Nicholas G Dowell
- Clinical Imaging Sciences Centre, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Falmer BN1 9RR, UK
| | - Jos F Brosschot
- Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK, Leiden, The Netherlands, and
| | - Julian F Thayer
- Department of Psychology, Ohio State University, 133 Psychology Building, 1835 Neil Ave Mall, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Hugo D Critchley
- Division of Medicine, Psychiatry, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Falmer BN1 9RR, UK, Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, Falmer BN1 9RR, UK
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Attwood AS, Munafò MR. Effects of acute alcohol consumption and processing of emotion in faces: Implications for understanding alcohol-related aggression. J Psychopharmacol 2014; 28:719-32. [PMID: 24920135 PMCID: PMC4962899 DOI: 10.1177/0269881114536476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
The negative consequences of chronic alcohol abuse are well known, but heavy episodic consumption ("binge drinking") is also associated with significant personal and societal harms. Aggressive tendencies are increased after alcohol but the mechanisms underlying these changes are not fully understood. While effects on behavioural control are likely to be important, other effects may be involved given the widespread action of alcohol. Altered processing of social signals is associated with changes in social behaviours, including aggression, but until recently there has been little research investigating the effects of acute alcohol consumption on these outcomes. Recent work investigating the effects of acute alcohol on emotional face processing has suggested reduced sensitivity to submissive signals (sad faces) and increased perceptual bias towards provocative signals (angry faces) after alcohol consumption, which may play a role in alcohol-related aggression. Here we discuss a putative mechanism that may explain how alcohol consumption influences emotional processing and subsequent aggressive responding, via disruption of orbitofrontal cortex (OFC)-amygdala connectivity. While the importance of emotional processing on social behaviours is well established, research into acute alcohol consumption and emotional processing is still in its infancy. Further research is needed and we outline a research agenda to address gaps in the literature.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Angela S Attwood
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies, Bristol, UK School of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Marcus R Munafò
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies, Bristol, UK School of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Hyönä J, Häikiö T. Is emotional content obtained from parafoveal words during reading? An eye movement analysis. Scand J Psychol 2005; 46:475-83. [PMID: 16277648 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9450.2005.00479.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
An eye-movement-contingent display change technique was employed to study whether adult readers extract semantic information from parafoveal words during reading. Three types of parafoveal preview conditions were contrasted: an emotional word, a neutral word, and an identical word condition. To have a maximally effective parafoveal manipulation, high-arousal emotional words (sex- and threat-related and curse words) were used as parafoveal previews. Readers' eye fixation patterns around the target word revealed no evidence for parafoveal semantic processing. Furthermore, the pupil size showed no signs for an emotional response triggered by an emotional word previewed parafoveally. These results are consistent with the view that, as a rule, only the fixated word is processed to a semantic level during reading.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jukka Hyönä
- Department of Psychology, University of Turku, Finland.
| | | |
Collapse
|