Neural Correlates of Inhibitory Function Following the Implicit Processing of Emotional Faces

Emotion and cognitive function interact to play a central role in determining human thought and behavior. Attention to emotion can facilitate or hinder cognitive control efforts based on the given contextual demands of the task at hand. This study used scalp electroencephalography (EEG) methods to examine the link between valence of facial stimuli and neural changes associated with emotional face processing and subsequent inhibitory response. 20 participants completed a gender discrimination stop- signal task using emotional faces. Facial valence did not differentially modulate the P200 event-related potential (ERP), indicating that happy and sad faces recruit similar neural resources in the context of implicit emotional processing. However, facial valence did significantly affect participant accuracy during response trials of gender discrimination. Trials of sad faces resulted in a higher accuracy in comparison to trials of happy faces. No significant modulation of the frontal P300 due to facial valence was observed. These results suggest that while facial valence may not modulate neural response during implicit processing of affective facial stimuli and subsequent inhibitory response, differences can be observed in behavioral response

Affect and Cognitive Control: The Influence of Naturalistic Mood on Interference Processing

Every day planning and execution of goal-directed human performance is dependent upon cognitive and emotional processes that are inherently interlinked. However, the effect of naturalistic mood states on cognitive control remains relatively unexamined. The present study builds upon existing literature regarding affective and executive processes by investigating the relationship between naturally occurring positive mood state and interference processing during a modified Color-Word Stroop Task (CWST). To further clarify the time course and recruitment of neural resources during different conditions of the CWST the present study utilized event-related potentials (ERPs). Incongruent stimuli were compared to congruent stimuli in blocked (same congruency) and mixed (both congruent and incongruent stimuli present) conditions for behavioral (reaction time and accuracy) and electrophysiological (N200 and N450) outcomes. Classic Stroop interference was observed across blocked and mixed conditions, in that incongruent trials resulted in increased reaction time, decreased accuracy, and increased N200 amplitude. While increased N450 amplitude was observed for incongruent compared to congruent trials in the blocked condition, congruent/incongruent trials in the mixed condition were not significantly different. Positive affect (PA) moderated the relationship between diagnostic group (remitted depressed or healthy controls) and onset of N200 during blocked incongruent trials. Higher levels of PA were related to later onset N200 for the remitted depressed group and earlier N200 onset for the healthy control group on blocked incongruent trials. Findings indicate that levels of PA have a differential impact on cognitive control processes in the context of history of psychopathology and may further account for some of the differences found in existing research as both dimensional and categorical classifications of emotional functioning are not frequently examined in the same study