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Abstract:

There is much empirical evidence for attention modulation by negative—particularly fear relevant—emotional stimuli, often explained in terms of a fear module. Appraisal theories of emotion posit a more general mechanism, predicting attention capture by stimuli that are relevant for the needs and goals of the organism, independent of valence. To examine the brain activation patterns underlying attention modulation, we recorded event-related potentials from 20 subjects performing a dot probe task with both fear-flight-inducing (anger faces) and warmth-nurturance inducing (baby faces) stimuli as cues. Highly similar validity modulation was found for P1 timelocked to target onset, indicating early attention capture by both positive and negative emotional stimuli. Topographic segmentation analysis and source localization indicate that the same amplification process is involved in attention orienting triggered by negative, fear-relevant stimuli and positive, nurturance-relevant stimuli. These results confirm that biological relevance, and not exclusively fear, produces an automatic spatial orienting toward stimulus location.

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