INTERACTION OF EMOTIONAL PERCEPTION AND VISUAL ATTENTION

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The objective of the present application is to understand the mechanisms of interaction between emotional perception and visual attention. The central hypothesis is that the processing of emotional stimuli requires processing resources that depend on attention and therefore does not occur automatically. We also hypothesize that emotional stimuli have a competitive advantage over neutral ones. Our hypotheses are based, in part, upon our recent fMRI findings that differential responses to emotional faces are abolished when subjects are engaged in a concurrent, demanding task, even though the faces were in the center of the visual field. We will test our hypotheses by pursuing three specific aims, which will employ a combination of behavioral and fMRI studies. In all aims, we will attempt to identify the brain networks underlying interactions between emotional perception and attention. Aim #1: Determine the extent to which aware emotional perception depends on attention. We expect that the extent to which emotional stimuli are processed, even in the amygdala, depends on the extent to which processing resources are consumed by concurrent tasks. Aim #2: Determine the extent to which unaware emotional perception depends on attention. The working hypothesis for this aim, based on our recent results, is that even the processing of stimuli that subjects are unaware of ("subliminal" perception) requires attentional resources. Aim #3: Determine how emotional processing guides attention and perception. The working hypothesis for this aim is that emotional processing biases perception, such that emotional stimuli are prioritized (this is expected when sufficient processing resources are available). Moreover, we hypothesize that such competitive advantage is directly linked to the modulation of cortical activation that is observed when subjects view emotional images. Our long-range goal is to contribute to a better understanding of the basic mechanisms by which emotional and cognitive brain systems interact in the generation of complex behavior.