“Keep That in Mind!” The Role of Positive Affect in Working Memory for Maintaining Goal-Relevant Information

Some studies have demonstrated a beneficial role of Positive Affect on working memory (WM) by either applying protocols of mood induction or assessing naturally occurring state Positive Affect. However, there are no studies directly linking Positive Affect as a stable personality-like trait with WM. We aimed to address this potential relationship using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule scale and contra-lateral delay activity (CDA) as measures of trait Positive Affect and WM Capacity, respectively. We also sought to investigate the impact of a neutral or unpleasant emotional state on this relationship. Participants performed a change detection task, while a neutral or an unpleasant emotional state was induced. Our results showed a positive robust correlation between trait Positive Affect and WM Capacity for both neutral and unpleasant emotional states, as revealed by the neuroelectrophysiological gold-standard measure of WM, namely, CDA. These data suggest a tangible role of trait Positive Affect in the cognitive ability of maintaining goal-relevant information in WM, such that even a highly disruptive state is not sufficient to corrupt this relationship

Amygdala responses to unpleasant pictures are influenced by task demands and positive affect trait

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Decreased Premotor Cortex Volume in Victims of Urban Violence with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Background: Studies addressing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have demonstrated that PTSD patients exhibit structural abnormalities in brain regions that relate to stress regulation and fear responses, such as the hippocampus, amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Premotor cortical areas are involved in preparing to respond to a threatening situation and in representing the peripersonal space. Urban violence is an important and pervasive cause of human suffering, especially in large urban centers in the developing world. Violent events, such as armed robbery, are very frequent in certain cities, and these episodes increase the risk of PTSD. Assaultive trauma is characterized by forceful invasion of the peripersonal space; therefore, could this traumatic event be associated with structural alteration of premotor areas in PTSD?Methodology/Principal Findings: Structural magnetic resonance imaging scans were acquired from a sample of individuals that had been exposed to urban violence. This sample consisted of 16 PTSD patients and 16 age-and gender-matched controls. Psychometric questionnaires differentiated PTSD patients from trauma-exposed controls with regard to PTSD symptoms, affective, and resilience predispositions. Voxel-based morphometric analysis revealed that, compared with controls, the PTSD patients presented significant reductions in gray matter volume in the ventral premotor cortex and in the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex.Conclusions: Volume reduction in the premotor cortex that is observed in victims of urban violence with PTSD may be associated with a disruption in the dynamical modulation of the safe space around the body. the finding that PTSD patients presented a smaller volume of pregenual anterior cingulate cortex is consistent with the results of other PTSD neuroimaging studies that investigated different types of traumatic events