Appetitive and aversive motivation in depression: The temporal dynamics of task-elicited asymmetries in alpha oscillations

The capability model of alpha asymmetries posits that state emotional manipulations are a more powerful detector of depression-related motivational deficits than alpha activity at rest. The present study used a time-frequency approach to investigate the temporal dynamics of event-related changes in alpha power during passive viewing of emotional pictures in individuals with dysphoria (n = 23) and in individuals without dysphoria (n = 24). In the whole group, the processing of pleasant and unpleasant compared to neutral pictures was associated with a decrease in event-related alpha power (i.e., alpha desynchronization) at centro-parietal and parietal scalp sites in the 538\u20131400 ms post-stimulus. The group with dysphoria revealed a smaller alpha desynchronization than the group without dysphoria in response to pleasant, but not neutral and unpleasant, stimuli at frontal, fronto-central and centroparietal sites. Interestingly, at central and centro-parietal scalp sites, the difference between groups in response to pleasant stimuli was lateralized to the right hemisphere, whereas no clear lateralization was observed at frontal and fronto-central scalp sites. These findings suggest that decreased cortical activity (i.e., reduced alpha desynchronization) in a network involving bilateral frontal and right-lateralized parietal regions may provide a specific measure of deficits in approach-related motivation in depression

Food processing and emotion regulation in vegetarians and omnivores: An event-related potential investigation

The present study investigated cognitive reappraisal during exposure to vegetarian and nonvegetarian food cues in food-deprived vegetarian and omnivore participants. In particular, we were interested in clarifying the motivational meaning of the foods that vegetarians avoid, as revealed by self-reported food craving, valence, and arousal, as well as by ERP measures of neural processing during passive viewing and emotional regulation. Twenty-four vegetarians and twenty-one omnivores were instructed to either passively look at the pictures (Watch) or to change the appetitive value of the food (Increase or Decrease). In vegetarians, meat and fish dishes elicited lower desire to eat, pleasantness, and arousal during each condition as compared to both omnivores and vegetarian food. In contrast with the subjective data, no group differences were observed in any of the ERP measures, suggesting that similar neural processing of food-cues occurred in vegetarians and omnivores both during passive viewing and cognitive reappraisal. Concerning the late ERP effects during cognitive reappraisal, we found an enhancement of the P300 and LPP amplitudes during the Increase and the Decrease as compared to the Watch condition and a reduction of the SW amplitude in the Decrease as compared to Watch condition. These results suggest that in a food deprivation condition it is difficult to reduce the appetitive value of food stimuli, as this cognitive strategy appears to require greater effort and a longer time to be implemented with respect to up-regulation. Overall, our findings suggest that, in vegetarians, aversion towards nonvegetarian food prevails at the subjective level and is consistent with their personal beliefs. In contrast, at the neural level, the intrinsic motivational salience of this type of food is preserved

Problematic Internet Use: The Relationship between Resting Heart Rate Variability and Emotional Modulation of Inhibitory Control

A growing literature suggests that problematic Internet use (PIU) is associated with defective inhibitory control. In this study, we sought to investigate the ability to inhibit prepotent motor responses in an emotional context in individuals with PIU, and to examine the relationship between inhibitory control and resting heart rate variability (HRV), which is regarded as a measure of self-regulation and adaptability. Problematic users (PU, n\u2009=\u200920) and nonproblematic users (non-PU, n\u2009=\u200920) completed an emotional Go/NoGo task, involving the presentation of unpleasant, pleasant, and neutral pictures. The electrocardiogram was recorded at rest for a 3-minute period. PU showed lower resting HRV, relative to non-PU. Although reaction times (RTs) to Go task stimuli were not faster in PU, relative to non-PU, accuracy rates were significantly lower among PU, irrespective of pictures' emotional content. Only among PU did lower resting HRV predict lower response accuracy in pleasant and unpleasant Go trials and less efficient task performance (combining RTs to Go trials and accuracy to NoGo trials) upon presentation of unpleasant stimuli. Our findings suggest that reduced HRV is a potential indicator of defective inhibitory control in an emotional context in PIU

Rievocazione di dettagli centrali e periferici di immagini emotigene

Alcuni studi sostengono che il ricordo dei dettagli centrali di uno stimolo/evento sia favorito dall\u2019arousal emozionale mentre quello dei dettagli periferici ne sia ostacolato. Scopo del presente esperimento e' di mettere in relazione la rilevanza motivazionale di alcune categorie di stimoli emotigeni, standardizzati per valenza ed arousal, con aspetti quantitativi e qualitativi del ricordo emozionale. Oltre ad immagini neutre, sono state presentate 4 categorie di immagini emotigene (\uabsesso\ubb, \uabsport\ubb, \uabminaccia\ubb, \uabsangue\ubb), bilanciate per arousal soggettivo. E' stato poi svolto un compito di rievocazione libera incidentale. Le immagini di sesso, minaccia e sangue vengono ricordate in percentuale significativamente maggiore rispetto a sport e neutre. I dettagli centrali vengono ricordati di piu' per le scene di minaccia rispetto a tutte le altre; per i dettagli periferici, invece, si evidenzia un generale svantaggio di rievocazione in tutte le categorie. I risultati vengono discussi alla luce del significato adattivo delle categorie emozionali impiegate