Commentary: Neural Control of Vascular Reactions: Impact of Emotion and Attention.

Rashmi Gupta

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01613

Abstract

Recent studies have claimed that processing of negative emotional information is modulated by the attentional demands of the task (Pessoa et al., 2002; Okon-Singer et al., 2007; Gupta and Srinivasan, 2015; Gupta et al., 2016). For example, Okon-Singer et al. (2007) manipulated low and high perceptual load of the primary letter-search task and used negative and neutral pictures as distractors. They found that negatively valenced distractors (compared to neutral) capture attention only in the low-load condition however, not in the high-load condition. These results fit with the perceptual load theory of attention for distractor processing (Lavie, 1995). According to Lavie, processing of distractors is only prevented if the perceptual load of the primary task is sufficiently high to exhaust available attentional capacity.

Highlights

Specialty section: This article was submitted to Emotion Science, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology
Okon-Singer et al (2007) manipulated low and high perceptual load of the primary letter-search task and used negative and neutral pictures as distractors. They found that negatively valenced distractors capture attention only in the low-load condition not in the high-load condition
High perceptual load boosted activation in attentional processing brain areas.These results are parallel with the theories of selective attention emphasizing the role of attention in regulating behavioral and neural responses to processing of irrelevant emotional information (Pessoa et al, 2002)

Summary

Introduction

Specialty section: This article was submitted to Emotion Science, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology. Recent studies have claimed that processing of negative emotional information is modulated by the attentional demands of the task (Pessoa et al, 2002; Okon-Singer et al, 2007; Gupta and Srinivasan, 2015; Gupta et al, 2016). Okon-Singer et al (2007) manipulated low and high perceptual load of the primary letter-search task and used negative and neutral pictures as distractors.

Results

Conclusion