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Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is one of the most common mental disorders during childhood and adolescence. Yet, little is known about its maintenance in youth. Cognitive models of SAD indicate that attentional biases play a key role in the dysfunctional processing of social information, such as emotional faces. However, previous research investigating neural correlates of childhood SAD has produced inconsistent findings. The current study aims to investigate neural face processing in children and adolescents with SAD, while taking into consideration methodological limitations of previous studies. We measured event-related potentials (P100, N170, EPN, LPP) in response to happy, neutral, and angry adult faces, and non-social household objects, in a sample of youth (aged 10–15 years) with SAD (n = 57), clinical controls with specific phobias (SP; n = 41), and healthy controls (HC; n = 61). Participants completed an emotion/object identification task while continuous EEG was recorded. Analyses revealed lower N170 amplitudes in the SAD group compared to HCs, irrespective of emotion. In addition, younger children (aged 10–12 years) with SAD showed lower EPN amplitudes and higher early LPP amplitudes (only trend level) in response to neutral and happy faces compared to younger HCs. These effects were specific to faces and were not evident in the neural processing of non-social household objects. Overall, the findings indicate that different neural response patterns are already present in youth with SAD. Group differences, particularly in younger children, suggest age-related differences in neural face processing in childhood SAD and underpin the necessity of developmental approaches. • Emotional face processing in a large sample of youth with social anxiety disorder. • Social anxiety disorder is associated with lower N170 amplitudes. • Younger youth with social anxiety disorder also had lower EPN amplitudes. • Clinical and healthy controls showed similar face processing patterns. • Results underpin the need to examine age effects in pediatric face processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to detect and recognize facial emotions emerges in childhood and is important for understanding social cues, but we know relatively little about how individual differences in temperament may influence early emotional face processing. We used a sample of 419 children (M age = 10.57 years, SD = 1.75; 48% female; 77% White) to examine the relation between temperamental shyness and early stages of emotional face processing (assessed using the P100 and N170 event-related potentials) during different facial expressions (neutral, anger, fear, and happy). We found that higher temperamental shyness was related to greater P100 activation to faces expressing anger and fear relative to neutral faces. Further, lower temperamental shyness was related to greater N170 activation to faces expressing anger and fear relative to neutral faces. There were no relations between temperamental shyness and neural activation to happy faces relative to neutral faces for P100 or N170, suggesting specificity to faces signaling threat. We discuss findings in the context of understanding the early processing of facial emotional display of threat among shy children. • We examined children's shyness and early emotional face processing using ERPs. • Higher shyness predicted greater P100 to anger and fear relative to neutral faces. • Lower shyness predicted greater N170 to anger and fear relative to neutral faces. • Shyness was unrelated to P100 or N170 to happy relative to neutral faces. • Shyness is related to early processing of emotional displays signalling threat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1965 discovery of the P300 component of the electroencephalography (EEG)-based event-related potential (ERP), along with the subsequent identification of its alteration in people with schizophrenia, initiated over 50 years of P300 research in schizophrenia. Here, we review what we now know about P300 in schizophrenia after nearly six decades of research. We describe recent efforts to expand our understanding of P300 beyond its sensitivity to schizophrenia itself to its potential role as a biomarker of risk for psychosis or a heritable endophenotype that bridges genetic risk and psychosis phenomenology. We also highlight efforts to move beyond a syndrome-based approach to understand P300 within the context of the clinical, cognitive, and presumed pathophysiological heterogeneity among people diagnosed with schizophrenia. Finally, we describe several recent approaches that extend beyond measuring the traditional P300 ERP component in people with schizophrenia, including time-frequency analyses and pharmacological challenge studies, that may help to clarify specific cognitive mechanisms that are disrupted in schizophrenia. Moreover, we discuss several promising areas for future research, including studies of animal models that can be used for treatment development. • The 1965 discovery of P300 led to nearly six decades of P300 studies in schizophrenia. • P300 deficits show trait-like stability but fluctuate with clinical severity. • Deficits precede the illness and occur in relatives, but the genetic basis is unclear. • The relationship between P300 deficits and clinical symptoms remains elusive. • Promising new approaches include time-frequency analysis and animal model studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Event-related potential responses to others' sounds of pain were identified. • Individual pain sensitivity was characterized by stimulus-response function. • Neural responses to others' painful sounds varied with physical pain sensitivity. • The linkage between the perception of self pain and others' pain was demonstrated. Numerous studies have demonstrated an overlap between the processing of self-pain and others' pain, which suggests that psychological and neural representations are shared between the perception of physical pain and empathy for pain. As hearing emotional exclamations is a common way in which we regularly perceive and empathize with others' pain, the present study aimed to investigate the link between sensitivity to physical pain and the sounds made by others in pain. We recorded event-related potential (ERP) responses to another person's vocalizations (neutral or painful intonation) and identified electrophysiological responses associated with the processing of painful sounds. Additionally, individual pain sensitivity was characterized by a stimulus-response function that described the relationship between objective stimulus intensity and subjective pain intensity. Results showed that compared with hearing others' neutral sounds, hearing others' sounds of pain elicited more positive frontal-central N1 and N2 responses as well as more positive central-parietal P3 and late positive potential responses. These electrophysiological responses to hearing others' pain replicated electrophysiological responses to observing pictures and video clips of people in pain. Importantly, the neural responses to hearing others in pain were associated with physical pain sensitivity that was indexed by stimulus-response characteristics. The identified link between perception of one's own physical pain and the sounds of others in pain further supports the shared common psychological computations between processing one's own pain and empathizing with others' pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The neural representation of multisensory space near the body is modulated by the active use of long tools in non-human primates. Here, we investigated whether the electrophysiological correlates of visuo-tactile integration in near and far space were modulated by active tool use in healthy humans. Participants responded to a tactile target delivered to one hand while an irrelevant visual stimulus was presented ipsilaterally in near or far space. This crossmodal task was performed after the use of either short or long tools. Crucially, the P100 components elicited by visuo-tactile stimuli was enhanced on far as compared to near space trials after the use of long tools, while no such difference was present after short tool use. Thus, we found increased neural responses in brain areas encoding tactile stimuli to the body when visual stimuli were presented close to the tip of the tool after long tool use. This increased visuo-tactile integration on far space trials following the use of long tools might indicate a transient remapping of multisensory space. We speculate that performing voluntary actions with long tools strengthens the representation of sensory information arising within portions of space (i.e. the hand and the tip of the tool) that are most functionally relevant to one's behavioural goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Participants were faster at recalling memoranda matching a target color. • P3 component was present during the encoding of non-spatial memoranda. • P3 amplitude was greater for items that matched target features. • Self-reported attentional focusing moderated the relationship between P3 and memory. Stimulus-driven attention drawn to relevant items can improve working memory (WM) whether attentional capture is driven by salient, low level features or by contingent salience from shared features with targets. In the current work, we examined the time course of enhanced attention to contingently salient information in a non-spatial WM task using event related brain potentials (ERPs). In line with previous work, we predicted that the encoding of contingently salient stimuli would be associated with an enhancement of cognitive control processes rather than low-level salience detection. The results of this study supported this hypothesis, evidenced by a posterior P3 component of greater amplitude for contingently salient stimuli relative to stimuli of a control color, which is thought to reflect enhanced attention to information that matches a target held in WM. However, P3 amplitude during encoding was unrelated to subsequent memory accuracy. As an exploratory follow up on these results, we conducted a regression analysis including beliefs about ability to focus attention as a moderator, which interacted with P3 amplitude to predict WM recall of salient letters. Furthermore, source localization analyses implicated a significant contribution of regions in the salience network to the detection of target stimuli, but only frontal control regions showed a greater response to salient than control letters. Thus, the results of this experiment suggest that participants enhance cognitive control during the encoding of contingently salient stimuli, but that the relationship between this neural process during encoding and subsequent benefits to WM recall might depend on individual differences in attentional focus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • We identified two distinct latent profiles of maternal neural response to infant emotional expressions. • The 'attenuated' profile was characterized by undifferentiated early and late response to infant emotional expressions. • The 'enhanced' profile was characterized by enhanced early and late response to infant distress, relative to laughter. • Likelihood of being assigned to a given. Profile was associated with maternal sensitivity and sociodemographic risk. Abstract In the current study, we examined how latent profiles reflecting maternal neural response to infant emotional expressions predict observed parenting behavior. Participants included 86 mothers of infants. Maternal sensitivity was coded from video-recorded distress and play interactions; mothers' event-related potentials (ERPs) to child emotional expressions were measured from EEG activity recorded during a categorization task. Latent profile analysis of mothers' P200 and late positive potential (LPP) responses to crying and laughing child expressions identified three latent profiles, characterized by enhanced or attenuated responses to crying and laughing expressions at early and late stages of processing. Mothers' probability of being assigned to the "attenuated to distress" profile, characterized by undifferentiated early and late response to infant emotional expressions, was associated with reduced maternal sensitivity. Probability of being assigned to this profile was also correlated with sociodemographic risk. Profiles of maternal neural response to infant emotional expressions may enhance our understanding of the phenomenology of insensitive caregiving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The somatosensory mismatch negativity (sMMN) could be elicited by a change in pressure stimulation on the finger pad. • The main functional subcomponents comprising the sMMN, which was obviously observed at the fronto-central regions of the scalp at 100–300 ms. • Theta band activity plays pivotal roles in the generation of the sMMN elicited by a change in somatosensory pressure stimulation in an unattended condition. Abstract Recent research has indicated that the mismatch negativity (MMN) is elicited in response to a discernible small change of a somatosensory stimulus applied on the hand. However, the neural mechanism for detecting small change of somatosensory stimulus remains unknown. In the present study, we developed a novel pressure stimulation device using air jet applied on the index finger pad, and determined the just noticeable differences (JNDs) of pressure discrimination for each subject. Using the deviant-standard-reversed oddball paradigm, we analyzed the average dynamic changes in MMN amplitude and changes of evoked spectral power. We found a clear MMN component at the frontal and central regions at 100–300 msec after deviant stimulus presentation. Statistical tests showed that theta band activity played pivotal roles in the generation of the MMN elicited by a change in somatosensory pressure stimulation. Our results indicate that the somatosensory discriminatory process reflected on MMN is accompanied by phase-locked oscillation at the theta frequency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Unpredictable distracters increase response times to a subsequent target. • Unpredictable distracters diminish attentional engagement with a subsequent target. • Attentional capture by distracters predicts decreased attentional target processing. • Diminished attentional target processing is directly related to slower responses. Abstract Unpredictability influences emotion and attention, but its effects on goal-directed behavior are unclear. We examined whether unpredictable events interfere with performance, using event-related potentials to specify underlying attentional dynamics. The paradigm involved task-irrelevant distracters of either predictable or unpredictable content (neutral/negative) preceding targets of a stimulus discrimination task. Mean and single-trial analyses showed that unpredictable compared to predictable distracters elicited larger late positive potential (LPP) amplitudes and were followed by diminished P300 amplitudes and slower responses to the target. Single-trial distracter LPP mediated the trial-wise effect of unpredictable distracters on target P300. Diminished single-trial target P300 predicted slower response times, but we did not observe mediation; distracter LPP was also unrelated to behavior. These findings suggest that unpredictability impairs target processing and performance. Diminished target processing appears to result from distracters and targets competing for limited attentional resources and behavioral output is directly related to attentional engagement with the target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Religious fundamentalism correlates with response-related brain activity. • High religious fundamentalists show increased ERN, Pe, and CRN amplitudes. • Religious fundamentalism does not correlate with behavioral performance. • Fundamentalism is associated with increased activity of the brain's defensive system. • High religious fundamentalists may share some characteristics with OCD patients. Abstract The aim of the current study was to examine whether action monitoring is associated with religious fundamentalism. Participants performed a stop-signal task that required response inhibition to a simple auditory tone. The level of their religious fundamentalism was measured on a scale. Analysis with mixed-effects linear models revealed significantly larger error-related negativity, correct-related negativity, and post-error positivity components in individuals scoring higher on religious fundamentalism, pointing to their increased engagement in response monitoring. However, it was not accompanied by improved behavioral performance. The electrophysiological results of our study suggest that individuals high in religious fundamentalism engage more in monitoring for conflict between outcomes of their actions and standards of correct behavior. Our findings also point to a possible association between a fundamentalist mindset and higher levels of negative affect, uncertainty, anxiety, and distress, as measured by response-related brain activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-construal (SC) describes how people perceive the relationship between themselves and others and is usually divided into interdependent and independent types. Several studies have been conducted on how people with independent and interdependent SC process their own and others' outcomes. However, few studies have investigated the influence of SC on outcome evaluation in a social comparison context. To explore this, we randomly assigned participants to interdependent and independent SC priming groups and analyzed the affects and electrophysiological responses generated when they played gambling games with two pseudo-players. The results showed that self-gambling state, SC, and social comparison interacted to influence feedback-related negativity (FRN). In the self-win condition, performances that differed from others elicited more negative FRN than evenness for both the interdependent and independent groups. In the self-loss condition, this effect was only found in the independent group. These results suggest that the outcome evaluation patterns in social contexts are not fixed but vary according to self-gambling state and SC. • Self-construal (SC) describes how people perceive and interpret the relationship between self and others. • Interdependent SC priming group showed social comparison on FRN regardless of self-state. • Independent SC priming group showed social comparison only in self-win. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pregnancy is marked by physiological and psychosocial changes for women, and event-related potentials (ERP) are comfortable and safe for examining brain function across pregnancy. The late positive potential (LPP) ERP, a measure of allocated attention to emotional stimuli, may provide insight into associations between internalizing symptoms and neural processing of infant emotion cues, which may be particularly salient in this life stage. We developed a task to examine neural and behavioral responses to infant faces in pregnant women (N = 120, M age=31.09, SD =4.81), the impact of auditory infant cries on the LPP to faces, and associations between the LPP and anxiety and depressive symptoms. Participants matched distressed, happy, and neutral infant faces and shapes as a comparison condition with interspersed auditory conditions (infant cry sounds vs. white noise) while electroencephalogram data were collected. Participants also completed self-report measures of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Reaction time (RT) was faster for the infant cry vs. white noise condition and when matching shapes vs. infant faces. Depressive symptoms were associated with slower RTs to neutral infant faces. The LPP was enhanced overall to faces vs. shapes, but there was no main effect of auditory condition. Anxiety symptoms were associated with an enhanced LPP to infant distressed faces in the infant cry condition. Results support these methods for measuring neural and behavioral responses to infant emotional cues in pregnancy and provide evidence that combinations of auditory and visual stimuli may be particularly useful for capturing emotional processes relevant to anxiety. • Late positive potential (LPP) sensitive to infant cues in pregnant women. • Slower reaction times associated with depression. • Enhanced LPP to distress faces with auditory cry associated with anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescent onset is common in bipolar disorders (BDs) and is associated with a worse illness course in adulthood. A model of BDs suggests that a dysregulated behavioral approach system (BAS), a neural system that mobilizes reward-seeking behavior, is at the root of BDs. Normative adolescence is often accompanied by dynamic changes to neural structures underlying the BAS and related cognitive processes. It is possible that adolescent-onset BDs is associated with abnormal BAS neurodevelopment. Consistently, the present study is the first to compare specific BAS-relevant anticipatory and consummatory reward processes as indexed by event-related potentials (ERPs) in adolescents with BDs and typically developing peers. Using a sample of 43 adolescents with BDs and 56 without psychopathology, we analyzed N1 and P3 responses to anticipatory cues and feedback-related negativity (FRN) and P3 responses to feedback stimuli during a monetary incentive delay (MID) task. Hierarchical linear models examined relationships between ERP amplitudes and diagnostic group, MID condition, sex, and age. During anticipation phase, adolescent boys with BDs exhibited significantly larger N1 amplitudes in loss than even or gain trials. During feedback phase, compared to their healthy peers, adolescents with BDs had smaller FRN amplitudes across all conditions. Additional effects involving age, sex and trial type were observed. The findings indicate subtle, non-ubiquitous BAS-relevant neural abnormalities involving early attentional processes during reward anticipation and reward learning following feedback in adolescents with BDs. Adolescents with BDs did not show overall hypersensitive neural responses to monetary reward anticipation or feedback observed in adults with BDs. • ERP reward processing indices were sex and age dependent in this adolescent sample. • Boys with bipolar disorders had larger N1 mean amplitude for monetary loss trials. • All boys had larger N1 and P3 mean amplitudes than girls during anticipation phase. • In anticipation phase, only boys showed reduced P3 mean amplitude with older age. • In feedback phase, all youth with bipolar disorders had smaller FRN mean amplitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last decades, event-related potential research on the processing of intrinsic and acquired valence has made great progress, but the two dimensions rarely varied simultaneously. Only that way, however, can we investigate whether the acquisition of extrinsic valence varies with intrinsic valence and whether intrinsic and acquired valence share the same brain mechanisms. Forty-five participants performed associative learning of gains and losses, using pictures varying on intrinsic valence (positive, negative) and outcome (90 % gain, 50 %/50 %, 90 % loss). 64-channel EEG was recorded. During acquisition, one picture from each valence/outcome combination was repeatedly presented, followed by abstract outcome information (+10 ct, −10 ct) at the predefined probability. In the test phase, participants pressed buttons to earn the real gains and avoid the real losses associated with the pictures. Here, effects of outcome and/or its congruence with intrinsic valence were observed for RT, error rate, frontal theta power, posterior P2, P300, and LPP. Moreover, outcome systematically affected post-test valence and arousal ratings. During acquisition, a contingency effect (90 % > 50 %) on amplitude of a frontal negative slow wave accompanied the progress of learning, independently of outcome, valence, and congruence. The relative absence of outcome effects during acquisition suggests "cold" semantic rather than genuinely affective processing of gains and losses. However, with real gains and losses in the test phase, "hot" affective processing took place, and outcome and its congruence with intrinsic valence influenced behavior and neural processing. Finally, the data suggest both shared and distinct brain mechanisms of intrinsic and acquired valence. • ERP study of interactions of intrinsic and acquired valence of emotional scenes. • crossed intrinsic valence (positive, negative) with outcome (gain, ambiguous, loss). • frontal negativity accompanied the acquisition of valence irrespective of outcome. • distinct posterior P2, P300, and LPP effects of valence, outcome, and congruency. • suggests both shared and distinct processing of intrinsic and acquired valence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The central executive system and short-term storage of a multi-component model of working memory (WM) were examined. • Only the inhibition and updating functions were significantly related to general intelligence (g). • The relationship between the central executive system and g was mediated by a 3-back P300 (mean amplitude for target stimuli) at the Pz electrode. • The combined components of WM predicted 60.4% of the variance in g , 65.7% in crystalized intelligence, and 62.7% in fluid intelligence. Abstract A robust relationship between working memory (WM) and general intelligence (g) has been well established. Nevertheless, explanations for this relationship in terms of underlying neurocognitive processes are still inadequate. This study addresses this issue using an individual differences approach in which Central Executive System (CES) and Short-Term Storage (STS) components of WM are measured comprehensively and examined for their relationship with g via event-related potentials components (P200 and P300) as mediators. Participants (n = 115) completed tests of the WM, CES and STS, as well as g. P200 and P300 components were recorded during 3-back WM task performance. Structural equation modelling showed significant negative associations between the P200 latency for target stimuli and CES shifting processes, and between the P300 amplitude for target stimuli and CES inhibition and updating processes. The relationship between CES processes and g was mediated in a localized fashion by the P300 amplitude. These findings further support the notion that the CES has a multidimensional structure and, importantly, reveal that the inhibition and updating functions of the CES are crucial in explaining the relationship between WM and g. Negative relations between ERP indices (P200 latency and P300 amplitude for target stimuli) and g support a neural efficiency hypothesis related to high intelligence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Faces capture attention, but are they also particularly distracting? • Behaviourally, faces are as distracting as non-face objects (cars). • N170 results suggest face-specific processing under high attentional load. • Pronounced Pd ERPs indicate stronger suppression for faces than cars. • Faces can be ignored, but may require strong suppression processes. Abstract In everyday life we constantly experience distractions. Some distractors might be more distracting than others, for example the human face, which has been shown to be very efficient in attracting attention. Here, we employed the irrelevant-distractor paradigm (Forster & Lavie, 2016) to measure behavioural and neural distraction by completely irrelevant faces or non-faces (cars), while participants performed a letter search task that was more (high-load) or less (low-load) demanding. Under low load conditions, faces and cars equally slowed responses on trials with distractors as compared to those without. In high load conditions, neither faces nor cars were distracting. However, event-related potentials revealed larger face-sensitive N170 responses to faces than cars under both load conditions, suggesting that early face-specific processing is present even under high load. A subsequent Pd modulation between 200 and 300 ms contralateral to the distractor position, which has been linked to the active top-down suppression of lateral distractors (Hickey et al., 2009) was stronger for faces compared to cars. Overall, the EEG data indicate early face-specific processes to irrelevant faces irrespective of attentional load, coupled with stronger top-down suppression for faces. Together, these processes might reduce the influence of irrelevant face distractors on behavioural performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we attempt to validate previous findings on extraversion-related differences in speed of sensorimotor processing and to extend them into Behavioural Approach System (BAS) subtraits within the framework of the revised Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (rRST) of personality. Here, we assessed psychological traits of extraversion (E), four BAS facets (Goal-Drive Persistence, BAS-GDP; Reward Interest, BAS-RI; Reward Reactivity, BAS-RR; Impulsivity, BAS-I), Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS), and Fight-Flight-Freeze System (FFFS) in 51 volunteers (28 women). Stimulus-locked lateralized readiness potential (S-LRP), response-locked LRP (R-LRP), stimulus-locked and response-locked forearm electromyogram (S-EMG and R-EMG), and P3 components of the event-related potentials (ERPs), were recorded during the performance of a two-choice Go/NoGo visual letter-digit discrimination task varying in task difficulty. High extraverts, relative to introverts and individuals high relative to low on BAS-RI, were more likely to exhibit shorter S-LRP latencies and stimulus- and response-locked EMG latencies. Additionally, high BAS-I had a shorter R-RLP latency than low BAS-I participants for the difficult task. High FFFS levels were associated with longer S-LRP and S-EMG latencies, while high BIS levels had larger response accuracy. Extraverts, relative to introverts, along with those high relative to low on BAS-RR and BAS-I, exhibited smaller P3 amplitudes. The faster cortical premotor initiation, found in individuals high on extraversion, BAS-RI and low on FFFS, may account for their faster peripheral motor response initiation and execution. Smaller P3 amplitudes in extraverts and individuals high on BAS-RR and BAS-I may indicate reduced perceptual processing capacity in these individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facial expressions signaling threat and mood-congruent loss have been used to probe abnormal neural reactivity in major depressive disorder (MDD) and may be implicated in genetic vulnerability to MDD. This study investigated electro-cortical reactivity to facial expressions in 101 unaffected, adult first-degree relatives of probands with MDD and non-relative controls (n = 101). We investigated event-related potentials (ERPs) to five facial expressions of basic emotion: fear, anger, disgust, sadness and happiness under both subliminal (masked) and conscious (unmasked) presentation conditions, and the source localization of group differences. In the conscious condition, controls showed a distinctly positive-going shift in responsive to negative versus happy faces, reflected in a greater positivity for the VPP frontally and the P300 parietally, and less negativity for the N200. By contrast, relatives showed less differentiation of emotions, reflected in less VPP and P300 positivity, particularly for anger and disgust, which produced an enhanced N200 for sadness. These group differences were consistently source localized to the anterior cingulate cortex. The findings contribute new evidence for neural disruptions underlying the differentiation of salient emotions in familial risk for depression. These disruptions occur to the appraisal (∼200 ms post-stimulus) through to the context evaluation (∼300 ms+ post-stimulus) phases of emotion processing, consistent with theories that risk for depression involves biased or attenuated processing of emotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct gaze is a powerful social cue signalling the attention of another person toward oneself. Here we investigated the relevance of low spatial frequency (LSF) and high spatial frequency (HSF) in facial cues for direct gaze processing. We identified two distinct peaks in the ERP response, the N170 and N240 components. These two components were related to different stimulus conditions and influenced by different spatial frequencies. In particular, larger N170 and N240 amplitudes were observed for direct gaze than for averted gaze, but only in the N240 component was this effect modulated by spatial frequency, where it was reliant in LSF information. By contrast, larger N170 and N240 components were observed for faces than for non-facial stimuli, but this effect was only modulated by spatial frequency in the N170 component, where it relied on HSF information. The present study highlights the existence of two functionally distinct components related to direct gaze processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective The current study examined neural and behavioral responses to angry, happy and neutral faces in childhood social anxiety disorder (SAD). Method Behavioral (reaction time and accuracy) and electrocortical measures (P100, N170, EPN, LPP) were assessed during a facial emotion identification task in children (age 10–13) with SAD ( n  = 32), clinical controls with mixed anxiety disorders ( n  = 30), and healthy controls ( n  = 33). Results Overall, there were no group differences in behavioral or neural responses to emotional faces. However, children with SAD showed an attenuated LPP to male relative to female faces, while the opposite pattern emerged in the other two groups. Discussion Stimulus gender, but not facial emotion drove group-specific effects, which became evident in later, more elaborate stages of attention processing. The present study provides preliminary indications of gender effects in childhood SAD which should be further investigated by future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous work focused on cognitive workload assessment suggests EEG spectral content and component amplitudes of the event-related potential (ERP) waveform may index mental effort and attentional reserve, respectively. Although few studies have assessed attentional reserve and mental effort during upper-extremity performance, none have employed a combined approach to measure cognitive workload during locomotion. Therefore, by systematically considering ERPs, spectral content and importantly their combination, this study aimed to examine whether concurrent changes in spectral content and ERPs could collectively serve as an index of cognitive workload during locomotion. Specifically, ERP and EEG biomarkers were assessed as participants performed a cognitive task under two levels of difficulty (easy or hard) and two conditions (seated or walking). Changes in attentional reserve and mental effort appeared to collectively index cognitive workload under varying demands due to changes in task difficulty or performance conditions. This work can inform cognitive workload assessment in patient populations with gait deficiencies for future applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous EEG-ERP dynamics studies found non-random “preferred” EEG phases at stimulus onset in a fixed interstimulus interval (ISI) equiprobable auditory Go/NoGo paradigm, with substantial effects on ERP components. Here we changed to a variable ISI task to prevent/reduce preferential phase occurrence. Discrete Fourier transforms decomposed prestimulus EEG at Cz for each trial to calculate the phase of different frequencies at stimulus onset; we combined these into the delta, theta, alpha, and beta bands, and then sorted trials into phase quartiles for each. ERPs from the raw EEG, assessed using temporal Principal Components Analyses, were examined as a function of phase at stimulus onset. Preferential phase occurrence was reduced as predicted, but random phase substantially impacted component amplitudes. For example, negativity in delta enhanced Go and NoGo P3b; and in theta reduced NoGo but not Go P3b. Overall, EEG phases at stimulus onset support differential cognitive processing in this two-choice task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The neural bases of emotion are commonly measured using blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal and the late positive potential (LPP) event-related potential (ERP) component, but rarely together in the same individuals. Despite evidence of developmental changes in processing socio-emotional signals (e.g., faces) as reflected by both BOLD and LPP indices of brain maturation, the literature on the correspondence between these measures is limited to healthy adults, leaving questions regarding such correspondence across development and in clinical populations unaddressed. We examined the relationship between BOLD and LPP during an emotional face processing task in a large sample of youth (N = 70; age 7–19 years) with and without anxiety disorders, and tested whether BOLD signal in regions corresponding to LPP may account for age-related decreases in LPP. Greater activation in bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG)/orbitofrontal gyrus (OFG), left supplementary motor area, right superior parietal lobule, and bilateral amygdala correlated with enhanced LPP to emotional faces in both anxious and healthy youth. Older youth exhibited reduced activation in bilateral IFG/OFG and bilateral amygdala, as well as reduced LPP. Decreased right IFG/OFG activation mediated the association between age and LPP. These findings support correspondence between these measures and need for multi-method approaches and indicate that age-related decreases in LPP may be driven, in part, by decreased IFG/OFG activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated whether the late posterior negativity (LPN) is a component linked to stimulus retrieval or rather to complex, higher-order stimulus evaluation processes or response preparation processes. Participants performed three separate tasks across separate sessions: an encoding task, a memory recognition task, and a visual discrimination task. In the visual discrimination task, the difficulty of stimulus evaluation was manipulated via stimuli varying in complexity (easy vs. moderately difficult) and duration of stimulus presentation (short vs. long). Three indices of the LPN peak were examined: amplitude, latency, and width. The LPN was present in all three tasks, with maximum amplitudes at occipital sites. Results of the visual discrimination task showed that the LPN amplitude is modulated by task difficulty. No latency differences were observed between short and long presentations, suggesting that the LPN is not related to response preparation. Consequently, we compared the LPN associated with short presentations of easy and difficult stimuli with the LPN of the encoding and memory task. The LPN amplitude was more negative in the memory task compared to the other tasks. Latency and width of the LPN were modulated by stimulus complexity, with increased latency and width in the encoding and memory task relative to the visual discrimination task. Overall, these findings suggest that the LPN is not a component linked to stimulus retrieval and response preparation, but rather to complex, higher-order stimulus evaluation processes, which are modulated by task difficulty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disparate results have been found in previous reports when incorporating both interview-based and self-report measures of psychopathic traits within the same sample, suggesting such assessments should not be used interchangeably. We previously found Total and Facet 4 scores from Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV) were negatively related to amplitude of the error-related positivity (Pe) event-related potential (ERP) component. Here, we investigated using the same previously published sample whether scores on four different self-report measures of adolescent psychopathic traits (the Antisocial Process Screening Device [APSD], Child Psychopathy Scale [CPS], Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits [ICU], and Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory [YPI]) were similarly associated with reduced Pe amplitude. Unlike our previous results, adolescent self-report psychopathy scores were not associated with reduced Pe amplitude in multiple regression analyses. Results obtained in the current report support previous research observing incongruent findings when incorporating different assessment types within the same sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the P3 (250–500 ms) and Late Positive Potential (LPP; 500–2000 ms) event-related potentials (ERPs) to food vs. nonfood cues among adolescents reporting on emotional eating (EE) behavior. Eighty-six adolescents 10–17 years old were tested using an instructed food versus nonfood cue viewing task (imagine food taste) during high-density EEG recording. Self-report data showed that EE increased with age in girls, but not in boys. Both P3 and LPP amplitudes were greater for food vs. nonfood cues (food-cue bias). Exploratory analyses revealed that, during the LPP time period, greater EE was associated with a more positive food-cue bias in the fronto-central region. This heightened fronto-central food-cue bias LPP is in line with a more activated prefrontal attention system. The results suggest that adolescents with higher EE may engage more top-down cognitive resources to regulate their automatic emotional response to food cues, and/or they may exhibit greater reward network activation to food cues than do adolescents with lower EE, even in the absence of an emotional mood induction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Testosterone plays an important role in social threat processing. Recent evidence suggests that testosterone administration has socially anxiolytic effects, but it remains unknown whether this involves early vigilance or later, more sustained, processing-stages. We investigated the acute effects of testosterone administration on social threat processing in 19 female patients with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) and 19 healthy controls. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during an emotional Stroop task with subliminally presented faces. Testosterone induced qualitative changes in early ERPs (<200 ms after stimulus onset) in both groups. An initial testosterone-induced spatial shift reflected a change in the basic processing (N170/VPP) of neutral faces, which was followed by a shift for angry faces suggesting a decrease in early threat bias. These findings suggest that testosterone specifically affects early automatic social information processing. The decreased attentional bias for angry faces explains how testosterone can decrease threat avoidance, which is particularly relevant for SAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by information processing biases, however, their underlying neural mechanisms remain poorly understood. The goal of this review was to give a comprehensive overview of the most frequently studied EEG spectral and event-related potential (ERP) measures in social anxiety during rest, anticipation, stimulus processing, and recovery. A Web of Science search yielded 35 studies reporting on electrocortical measures in individuals with social anxiety or related constructs. Social anxiety was related to increased delta-beta cross-frequency correlation during anticipation and recovery, and information processing biases during early processing of faces (P1) and errors (error-related negativity). These electrocortical measures are discussed in relation to the persistent cycle of information processing biases maintaining SAD. Future research should further investigate the mechanisms of this persistent cycle and study the utility of electrocortical measures in early detection, prevention, treatment and endophenotype research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visual mental imagery forms mental representations of visual objects when correspondent stimuli are absent and shares some characters with visual perception. Both the vertex-positive-potential (VPP) and N170 components of event-related potentials (ERPs) to visual stimuli have a remarkable preference to faces. This study investigated whether visual mental imagery modulates the face-sensitive VPP and/or N170 components. The results showed that with significantly larger amplitudes under the face-imagery condition than the house-imagery condition, the VPP and P2 responses, but not the N170 component, were elicited by phase-randomized ambiguous stimuli. Thus, the brain substrates underlying VPP are not completely identical to those underlying N170, and the VPP/P2 manifestation of the category selectivity in imagery probably reflects an integration of top-down mental imagery signals (from the prefrontal cortex) and bottom-up perception signals (from the early visual cortex) in the occipito-temporal cortex where VPP and P2 originate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The error-related negativity (ERN) is an electrophysiological response to errors. Individual differences in the ERN have been posited to reflect sensitivity to threat and linked with risk for anxiety disorders. Attention bias modification is a promising computerized intervention that has been shown to decrease threat biases and anxiety symptoms. In the present study, we examined the impact of a single session of attention bias modification, relative to a control task, on the neural correlates of response monitoring, including the ERN, correct response negativity (CRN), and their difference (i.e., the ERN – CRN or ΔERN). The final sample included 60 participants who first completed a flanker task to elicit the ERN and CRN, and were then randomly assigned to attention bias modification ( n = 30) or a control task ( n = 30). After completing the attention bias modification or control task, participants completed the same flanker task to again elicit the ERN and CRN. Among participants who completed attention bias modification training, the ERN, CRN, and ΔERN decreased from the pre- to post-training assessment. In contrast, in participants who completed the control task, the CRN, ERN, and ΔERN did not differ between the pre- and post-training assessment. The presents study suggests that a single session of attention bias modification reduces neural correlates of response monitoring, including error-related brain activity. These results also support attention bias modification as a potential mechanistic-based intervention for the prevention and treatment of anxiety pathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated whether well-known neural markers of selective attention to motivationally-relevant stimuli were modulated by variations in subjective preference towards consumer goods in a virtual shopping task. Specifically, participants viewed and rated pictures of various goods on the extent to which they wanted each item, which they could potentially purchase afterwards. Using the event-related potentials (ERP) method, we found that variations in subjective preferences for consumer goods strongly modulated positive slow waves (PSW) from 800 to 3000 milliseconds after stimulus onset. We also found that subjective preferences modulated the N200 and the late positive potential (LPP). In addition, we found that both PSW and LPP were modulated by subsequent buying decisions. Overall, these findings show that well-known brain event-related potentials reflecting selective attention processes can reliably index preferences to consumer goods in a shopping environment. Based on a large body of previous research, we suggest that early ERPs (e.g. the N200) to consumer goods could be indicative of preferences driven by unconditional and automatic processes, whereas later ERPs such as the LPP and the PSW could reflect preferences built upon more elaborative and conscious cognitive processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peer relationships play a major role in adolescent development, but few methods exist for measuring social processing at the neurophysiological level. This study extends our pilot study of Island Getaway, a task for eliciting event-related potentials (ERPs) to peer feedback. We differentiated ERPs using principal components analysis (PCA) and examined associations with behavioral and self-report measures in young adolescents ( N = 412). PCA revealed an early negativity in the ERP enhanced for rejection feedback, followed by a series of positivities (consistent with reward positivity [RewP], P300, and late positive potential) that were enhanced for acceptance feedback. Greater self-reported task engagement correlated with a larger RewP to acceptance and lower rates of rejecting peers. Youth higher in depressive symptoms exhibited a blunted RewP to social acceptance and reported lower engagement. Results highlight ERP components sensitive to peer feedback that may inform understanding of social processes relevant to typical and atypical development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decades, a growing number of studies provided compelling evidence supporting the interplay of cognitive and affective processes. However, it remains to be clarified whether and how an emotional context affects the prediction and detection of change in unattended sensory events. In an event-related potential (ERP) study, we probed the modulatory role of pleasant, unpleasant and neutral visual contexts on the brain response to automatic detection of change in spectral (intensity) vs. temporal (duration) sound features. Twenty participants performed a passive auditory oddball task. Additionally, we tested the relationship between ERPs and self-reported mood. Participants reported more negative mood after the negative block. The P2 amplitude elicited by standards was increased in a positive context. Mismatch Negativity (MMN) amplitude was decreased in the negative relative to the neutral and positive contexts, and was associated with self-reported mood. These findings suggest that the detection of regularities in the auditory stream was facilitated in a positive context, whereas a negative visual context interfered with prediction error elicitation, through associated mood changes. Both ERP and behavioral effects highlight the intricate links between emotion, perception and cognitive processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research on the association between intra-subject variability (ISV) in reaction times (RTs) and the Val 158 Met polymorphism of the catechol-o-methyltransferase gene (COMT; rs4680) has yielded mixed results. The present study compared the associations between COMT genotype and ISV in P3b latency measured during working and secondary memory tasks using residue iteration decomposition (RIDE) of single trial latencies. We compared the outcome of the present analyses with a previous analysis of the same data ( N = 70, n -back tasks) using an alternative single-trial method. Additionally, we used RIDE to analyse the association between COMT genotype and ISV in an independent sample performing a different task ( N = 91, face-recognition task). Analyses reconfirmed previous results from the n -back tasks, showing that Val alleles are associated with lower ISV. In the face recognition tasks, genotype interacted with task conditions, so Val homozygotes had higher ISV to unfamiliar faces than familiar ones but Met carriers showed no effect of familiarity. Moreover, in both datasets trial-by-trial RTs were predicted by P3b latencies. Therefore, the present data suggests that associations between COMT genotype and ISV depend on the type of cognitive processes, which may explain heterogeneity in previous results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An overly negative self-schema is a proposed cognitive mechanism of major depressive disorder (MDD). Self-schema − one’s core conception of self, including how strongly one believes one possesses various characteristics − is part of semantic memory (SM), our knowledge about concepts and their relationships. We used the N400 event-related potential (ERP) − elicited by meaningful stimuli, and reduced by greater association of the stimulus with preceding context − to measure association strength between self-concept and positive, negative, and neutral characteristics in SM. ERPs were recorded from MDD patients ( n = 16) and controls ( n = 16) who viewed trials comprising a self-referential phrase followed by a positive, negative, or neutral adjective. Participants’ task was to indicate via button-press whether or not they felt each adjective described themselves. Controls endorsed more positive adjectives than did MDD patients, but the opposite was true for negative adjectives. Patients had smaller N400s than controls specifically for negative adjectives, suggesting that MDD is associated with stronger than normal functional neural links between self-concept and negative characteristics in SM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of emotional response inhibition could provide novel insight into dysphoria-related deficits in appetitive and aversive motivational systems. Therefore, dysphoric ( N = 21) and nondysphoric ( N = 21) participants completed an emotional Go/Nogo paradigm, including the presentation of pleasant, neutral and unpleasant pictures. Behavioral measures [reaction times (RTs), accuracy to Go and Nogo stimuli] and neural correlates (Go/Nogo-N2 and Go/Nogo-P3) of response inhibition were compared between the two groups. Time-frequency analysis was also used as a novel approach to disentangle the multiple processes underlying time-domain ERP data. A reduced Go/Nogo effect for P3 and oscillatory delta activity was found in response to pleasant and neutral, but not unpleasant, stimuli in dysphoric relative to nondysphoric individuals. These findings showed that dysphoric individuals need a reduced and/or less effortful response inhibition to pleasant stimuli, suggesting that dysphoria is characterized by under-engagement of appetitive rather than over-engagement of aversive motivational system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the recent Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory Personality Questionnaire (RST-PQ, Corr and Cooper, 2016) the behavioral approach system (BAS) has been conceptualized as multidimensional in which facets of reward interest and reactivity, and goal-drive persistence, are separate from impulsivity. Aim of the present work was to highlight the predictive power of BAS and its facets in differentiating electrocortical responses by using an auditory augmenting/reducing event-related potential (ERP) paradigm during emotional visual stimulation. ERPs were recorded for 5 levels of intensity in 39 women. The RST-PQ was used to measure the total BAS (T-BAS) and its four facets of Goal-Drive Persistence (GDP), Reward Interest (RI), Reward Reactivity (RR), and Impulsivity (IMP). T-BAS and RI, and to a less extent GDP and RR, were significantly associated with higher N1/P2 amplitudes at central sites (C3, Cz, C4) across neutral, positive and negative slides. Similar, but less pronounced relations were found for GDP and RR, but this relation was lacking for Imp facet. In addition, N1/P2 slope at central sites was positively correlated with T-BAS, GDP, RI, RR, but not Imp. Indeed, T-BAS facets failed to maintain a significant correlation with N1/P2 slope, after controlling for T-BAS residual scores, indicating that T-BAS drives these significant correlations. LORETA analysis at 219 ms (P2 wave) from tone onset revealed a significant activation of the right inferior parietal lobule (IPL, BA40) and left anterior cingulate gyrus (BA32) in high T-BAS compared to low T-BAS participants. Results are discussed within a revised RST framework differentiating reward components from impulsivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excessive attention toward aversive information may be a core mechanism underlying emotional disorders, but little is known about whether this is predictive of response to treatments. We evaluated whether enhanced attention toward aversive stimuli, as indexed by an event-related potential component, the late positive potential (LPP), would predict response to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in patients with social anxiety disorder and/or major depressive disorder. Thirty-two patients receiving 12 weeks of CBT responded to briefly-presented pairs of aversive and neutral pictures that served as targets or distracters while electroencephaolography was recorded. Patients with larger pre-treatment LPPs to aversive relative to neutral distracters (when targets were aversive) were more likely to respond to CBT, and demonstrated larger reductions in symptoms of depression and anxiety following treatment. Increased attention toward irrelevant aversive stimuli may signal attenuated top-down control, so treatments like CBT that improve this control could be beneficial for these individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parenting styles are associated with children's psychological resilience. However, the underlying mechanisms of this have not been investigated. Parenting styles influence how individuals respond to self-inflicted errors, and error monitoring is related to psychological resilience. Therefore, this study proposed that error monitoring might be a bridging factor between parenting styles and psychological resilience. Seventy-two young healthy adults were recruited for this study. Parenting styles were assessed using the Parental Bonding Instrument, and psychological resilience was measured using the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale. Error monitoring was investigated in the Flanker task using event-related potentials (ERPs), and two error-related components of ERPs were measured: error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity. Mediation analyses showed that the ERN partially mediated the relationship between parenting styles and psychological resilience. Specifically, a higher level of self-reported parental overprotection was related to larger ERN amplitude, which in turn was associated with lower psychological resilience. Additionally, a higher level of self-reported parental allowance of autonomy was related to lower ERN amplitude, which in turn was linked to higher psychological resilience. These results suggest that shaping children's sensitivity in early automatic error detection is one possible mechanism through which parental styles influence their psychological resilience. • We examined the relationship among parenting, error monitoring and resilience. • Sensitivity to errors mediates the relationship between parenting and resilience. • More negative parenting links with lower resilience through larger ERN amplitude. • More positive parenting links with higher resilience through smaller ERN amplitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is conflicting evidence about how interference control in healthy adults is affected by walking as compared to standing or sitting. Although the Stroop paradigm is one of the best-studied paradigms to investigate interference control, the neurodynamics associated with the Stroop task during walking have never been studied. We investigated three Stroop tasks using variants with increasing interference levels – word-reading, ink-naming, and the switching of the two tasks, combined in a systematic dual-tasking fashion with three motor conditions – sitting, standing, and treadmill walking. Neurodynamics underlying interference control were recorded using the electroencephalogram. Worsened performance was observed for the incongruent compared to congruent trials and for the switching Stroop compared to the other two variants. The early frontocentral event-related potentials (ERPs) associated with executive functions (P2, N2) differentially signaled posture-related workloads, while the later stages of information processing indexed faster interference suppression and response selection in walking compared to static conditions. The early P2 and N2 components as well as frontocentral Theta and parietal Alpha power were sensitive to increasing workloads on the motor and cognitive systems. The distinction between the type of load (motor and cognitive) became evident only in the later posterior ERP components in which the amplitude non-uniformly reflected the relative attentional demand of a task. Our data suggest that walking might facilitate selective attention and interference control in healthy adults. Existing interpretations of ERP components recorded in stationary settings should be considered with care as they might not be directly transferable to mobile settings. • Behavioral decrements are susceptible to cognitive but not postural task difficulty. • Frontocentral P2, N2, and Theta power are sensitive to motor and cognitive workload manipulations. • Walking is suggested to facilitate interference control in healthy adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The n-back task is widely used in working memory (WM) research. However, it remains unclear how the electrophysiological correlates of WM processes, the P2, N2, P300, and negative slow wave (NSW), are affected by differences in load. Specifically, while previous work has examined the P300, less attention has been paid to the other components assessing the load of the n-back paradigm. The present study aims to investigate whether other sub-processes in WM (such as inhibitory control) are as sensitive to n-back load changes as the update process by observing changes in the above event-related potential (ERP) components. The results showed poorer behavioral performance with increasing WM load. Greater NSW and smaller P300 amplitudes were elicited by n-back task with a higher load compared to that with lower load. In contrast, there was no significant effect of the n-back load on the amplitudes of P2 and N2. These findings suggest that the updating process and the maintenance process are sensitive to the n-back load change. Therefore, changes in the updating and maintenance processes should be considered when using the n-back task to manipulate the WM load in experiments. The present study may contribute to the understanding of the complexity of WM loads. Additionally, a theoretical basis for follow-up research to explore ways of improving WM performance with high load is provided. • We examined neuropsychological activity of working memory load using the n-back task. • Besides updating, the maintenance process is also sensitive to n-back loads. • The P3 amplitude positively correlated with d'. • NSW amplitude for nontarget positively correlated with ratio of FA in posterior areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The amplitude of event-related brain potentials (ERPs) elicited by task-irrelevant auditory probes decreases when more attentional resources are allocated to a visual task. This task-irrelevant probe technique is considered to be useful in assessing the degree of interest in a visual task, as well as task difficulty. The present study examined the amplitude of the N1 and P2 components elicited by task-irrelevant auditory probes during a driving task in a simulated environment. The analysis of ERPs showed that the N1 amplitude decreased when participants drove on the road course that had more frequent and sharper curves, whereas the P2 amplitude decreased when the road contained sharper curves, irrespective of curve frequency. Subjective ratings of driving pleasure and difficulty showed the same variation patterns as the N1 and P2 amplitudes, respectively. These results suggest that use of the task-irrelevant probe technique can assess the degree of driving pleasure and difficulty separately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reward dysfunction has been implicated in a wide range of psychological disorders, including internalizing and externalizing psychopathology. Basic neuroscience research has shown that reward is a multistage process, yet it is unclear how specific stages relate to individual differences in reward sensitivity. The current study utilized event-related potentials elicited during a monetary incentive task to parse sub-stages within anticipatory and consummatory reward processing. Effects of depressive symptoms and trait impulsivity were examined at each sub-stage (N = 92). Reward anticipation modulated neural activity across three sub-stages: cue detection (cue-P3), approach behavior (contingent negative variation, CNV), and outcome anticipation (stimulus preceding negativity). Reward delivery modulated activity across two sub-stages: initial evaluation (reward positivity, RewP), and allocation of attention (feedback-P3). Sensation seeking predicted faster reaction times, as well as cue-P3 and RewP amplitudes. Depression and lack of premeditation interacted to predict CNV and RewP amplitudes. Results demonstrate that individual differences in reward functioning are stage-specific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mindfulness – the nonjudgmental awareness of the present experience – is thought to facilitate affective adaptation through increased exposure to emotions and faster extinction of habitual responses. To test this framework, the amplification of the Late Positive Potential (LPP) by negative relative to neutral images was analyzed across stimulus repetitions while 37 novices performed an open monitoring mindfulness exercise. Compared to two active control conditions where attention was either diverted to a distracting task or the stimuli were attended without mindfulness instructions, open monitoring enhanced the initial LPP response to negative stimuli, indicating increased emotional exposure. Across successive repetitions, mindfulness reduced and ultimately removed the affective LPP amplification, suggesting extinction of habitual emotional reactions. This effect arose from reduced negative as well enlarged neutral LPPs. Unlike stimuli from control conditions, the images previously viewed with mindfulness instructions did not elicit affective LPP amplification during subsequent re-exposure, suggesting reconsolidation of stimulus meaning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Altered anticipation processes are implicated across various clinical samples, but few studies focused on the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We measured contingent negative variation (CNV) in a choice reaction paradigm among 58 survivors of the Wenchuan earthquake, including 28 individuals who were diagnosed with PTSD and 30 without PTSD. Compared to the non-PTSD group, the PTSD group had significantly larger CNV amplitude. On the behavioral level, although the reaction times were comparable between groups, the PTSD group committed more errors than the non-PTSD group. Furthermore, the total PTSD symptom severity score as well as the re-experiencing symptom score were positively related to CNV amplitude. These results suggested that individuals with PTSD might be more alerted to and anticipate more to upcoming events in their environment, yet still have degraded performance in response to the stimulus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cognitive model of social anxiety predicts that an early attentional bias leads to greater cognitive processing of social threat signals, whereas the vigilance-avoidance model predicts there will be subsequent reduction in cognitive processing. This study tests these models by examining neural responses to social threat stimuli using Event-related potentials (ERP). 19 women with high trait social anxiety and 19 women with low trait social anxiety viewed emotional expressions (angry, disgusted, happy and neutral) in a passive viewing task whilst ERP responses were recorded. The HSA group revealed greater automatic attention, or hypervigilance, to all facial expressions, as indexed by greater N1 amplitude compared to the LSA group. They also showed greater sustained attention and elaborative processing of all facial expressions, indexed by significantly increased P2 and P3 amplitudes compared to the LSA group. These results support cognitive models of social anxiety, but are not consistent with predictions of the vigilance-avoidance model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The early detection of young people at-risk of developing a severe mental illness like schizophrenia offers the opportunity of introducing treatment earlier than currently possible. There is some evidence that early intervention improves prognosis and functional outcome, or even prevents the full clinical manifestation of the condition in some individuals. A key prerequisite to facilitate early intervention would be a biomarker that can reliably predict a transition to schizophrenia. A smaller event-related mismatch negativity (MMN) potential has emerged as one of the most robust psychophysiological finding in schizophrenia akin of a biomarker of the condition. More recent research further demonstrates that MMN, but also P3a amplitudes, are already reduced in the prodromal phase of illness. Several lines of pre-clinical and clinical research support this notion and are reviewed in this article together with current obstacles, which are still limiting the translation of MMN as a biomarker into clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Errors are unpredictable events that have the potential to cause harm. The error-related negativity (ERN) is the electrophysiological index of errors and has been posited to reflect sensitivity to threat. Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is the tendency to perceive uncertain events as threatening. In the present study, 61 participants completed a self-report measure of IU and a flanker task designed to elicit the ERN. Results indicated that IU subscales were associated with the ERN in opposite directions. Cognitive distress in the face of uncertainty (Prospective IU) was associated with a larger ERN and slower reaction time. Inhibition in response to uncertainty (Inhibitory IU) was associated with a smaller ERN and faster reaction time. This study suggests that sensitivity to the uncertainty of errors contributes to the magnitude of the ERN. Furthermore, these findings highlight the importance of considering the heterogeneity of anxiety phenotypes in relation to measures of threat sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the effect of emotion on response inhibition and error monitoring using event-related potentials. Participants performed an emotional stop-signal task that required response inhibition to briefly presented threatening and neutral visual stimuli. Negative, arousing pictures improved behavioral performance by decreasing the stop-signal reaction time and increasing the inhibitory rate, but had no enhancing effect on inhibitory processing at the electrophysiological level (N2–P3 complex). The perceptual processing of threatening stop-signals resulted in a larger and earlier N1 component. The Pe component, associated with conscious evaluation or affective processing of an error, was stronger in negative than in neutral trials. The stronger Pe correlated with superior task performance in the emotional condition. Prioritized perceptual processing of the stop-signal was associated with better conscious error monitoring. These results support the hypothesis that threatening, arousing stimuli improve behavioral inhibitory performance and error monitoring due to the enhancement of perceptual processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visual selection of illusory ‘Kanizsa’ figures, an assembly of local elements that induce the percept of a whole object, is facilitated relative to configurations composed of the same local elements that do not induce a global form—an instance of ‘global precedence’ in visual processing. Selective attention, i.e., the ability to focus on relevant and ignore irrelevant information, declines with increasing age; however, how this deficit affects selection of global vs. local configurations remains unknown. On this background, the present study examined for age-related differences in a global-local task requiring selection of either a ‘global’ Kanizsa- or a ‘local’ non-Kanizsa configuration (in the presence of the respectively other configuration) by analyzing event-related lateralizations (ERLs). Behaviorally, older participants showed a more pronounced global-precedence effect. Electrophysiologically, this effect was accompanied by an early (150–225 ms) ‘positivity posterior contralateral’ (PPC), which was elicited for older, but not younger, participants, when the target was a non-Kanizsa configuration and the Kanizsa figure a distractor (rather than vice versa). In addition, timing differences in the subsequent (250–500 ms) posterior contralateral negativity (PCN) indicated that attentional resources were allocated faster to Kanizsa, as compared to non-Kanizsa, targets in both age groups, while the allocation of spatial attention seemed to be generally delayed in older relative to younger age. Our results suggest that the enhanced global-local asymmetry in the older age group originated from less effective suppression of global distracter forms on early processing stages—indicative of older observers having difficulties with disengaging from a global default selection mode and switching to the required local state of attentional resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]