Abstract
The present study addressed the hypothesis that emotional stimuli relevant to survival or reproduction (biologically emotional
stimuli) automatically affect cognitive processing (e.g., attention, memory), while those relevant to social life (socially
emotional stimuli) require elaborative processing to modulate attention and memory. Results of our behavioral studies showed
that (1) biologically emotional images hold attention more strongly than do socially emotional images, (2) memory for biologically
emotional images was enhanced even with limited cognitive resources, but (3) memory for socially emotional images was enhanced
only when people had sufficient cognitive resources at encoding. Neither images’ subjective arousal nor their valence modulated
these patterns. A subsequent functional magnetic resonance imaging study revealed that biologically emotional images induced
stronger activity in the visual cortex and greater functional connectivity between the amygdala and visual cortex than did
socially emotional images. These results suggest that the interconnection between the amygdala and visual cortex supports
enhanced attention allocation to biological stimuli. In contrast, socially emotional images evoked greater activity in the
medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and yielded stronger functional connectivity between the amygdala and MPFC than did biological
images. Thus, it appears that emotional processing of social stimuli involves elaborative processing requiring frontal lobe
activity.
stimuli) automatically affect cognitive processing (e.g., attention, memory), while those relevant to social life (socially
emotional stimuli) require elaborative processing to modulate attention and memory. Results of our behavioral studies showed
that (1) biologically emotional images hold attention more strongly than do socially emotional images, (2) memory for biologically
emotional images was enhanced even with limited cognitive resources, but (3) memory for socially emotional images was enhanced
only when people had sufficient cognitive resources at encoding. Neither images’ subjective arousal nor their valence modulated
these patterns. A subsequent functional magnetic resonance imaging study revealed that biologically emotional images induced
stronger activity in the visual cortex and greater functional connectivity between the amygdala and visual cortex than did
socially emotional images. These results suggest that the interconnection between the amygdala and visual cortex supports
enhanced attention allocation to biological stimuli. In contrast, socially emotional images evoked greater activity in the
medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and yielded stronger functional connectivity between the amygdala and MPFC than did biological
images. Thus, it appears that emotional processing of social stimuli involves elaborative processing requiring frontal lobe
activity.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Pages 1-25
- DOI 10.3758/s13415-011-0062-x
- Authors
- Michiko Sakaki, University of Southern California, 3715 McClintock Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
- Kazuhisa Niki, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
- Mara Mather, University of Southern California, 3715 McClintock Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
- Journal Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience
- Online ISSN 1531-135X
- Print ISSN 1530-7026