Early detection and late cognitive control of emotional distraction by the prefrontal cortex

Abstract

Unpleasant emotional distraction can impair the retention of non-emotional information in working memory (WM). Research links the prefrontal cortex with the successful control of such biologically relevant distractors, although the temporal changes in this brain mechanism remain unexplored. We use magnetoencephalography to investigate the temporal dynamics of the cognitive control of both unpleasant and pleasant distraction, in the millisecond (ms) scale. Behavioral results demonstrate that pleasant events do not affect WM maintenance more than neutral ones. Neuroimaging results show that prefrontal cortices are recruited for the rapid detection of emotional distraction, at early latencies of the processing (70-130 ms). Later in the processing (360-450 ms), the dorsolateral, the medial and the orbital sections of the prefrontal cortex mediate the effective control of emotional distraction. In accordance with the behavioral performance, pleasant distractors do not require higher prefrontal activity than neutral ones. These findings extend our knowledge about the brain mechanisms of coping with emotional distraction in WM. In particular, they show for the first time that overriding the attentional capture triggered by emotional distractors, while maintaining task-relevant elements in mind, is based on the early detection of such linked-to-survival information and on its later cognitive control by the prefrontal cortex.

Shedding light on gray(ing) areas: Connectivity and task switching dynamics in aging

“…Magnetoencephalography (MEG), a neuroimaging method that, like EROS, has high spatial and temporal resolution, provides converging evidence for the importance of prefrontal cortex in cognitive control (Aine et al, ; Altamura et al, ; Larson & Lee, ; Pacios, Garces, Del Rio, & Maestu, ; Solesio et al, ). For example, in a switching paradigm with young adults, Perianez and colleagues () found early upregulation of the IFG for shift cues, followed by anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and finally posterior regions such as the supramarginal gyrus.…”

Tracking the effect of emotional distraction in working memory brain networks: Evidence from an MEG study

“…Emotional interference during WM performance thus offers a unique window into the interaction of hot and cold information in cognitive processing. The disruptive role of emotional distracting stimuli for WM seems well established, specifically for emotional distraction of negative valence (hereinafter, unpleasant distraction) (Anticevic, Repovs, & Barch, ; Chuah et al, ; Denkova et al, ; Dolcos, Diaz‐Granados, Wang, & McCarthy, ; Dolcos & McCarthy, ; García‐Pacios, Del Río, Villalobos, Ruiz‐Vargas, & Maestú, ; García‐Pacios, Garcés, Del Río, & Maestú, ). While the role of emotionally positive distraction (i.e., pleasant distraction) has been less studied, evidence suggests that it is similarly easy to ignore as nonemotional (i.e., neutral) distraction is (García‐Pacios, Del Río, et al, ; García‐Pacios, Garcés, et al, ).…”

“…Given the emotional nature of our distractors and according with the extensive literature that links the VLPFC to the successful coping with emotional distraction (Denkova et al, 2010;Dolcos et al, 2013García-Pacios, Garc es, et al, 2015;, we also hypothesize that at later latencies of the processing (250-500 ms) this prefrontal region would be highly functionally coupled with posterior areas as a mechanism to restrain the interfering effect of emotional stimuli on the maintenance of nonemotional information.…”

“…The disruptive role of emotional distracting stimuli for WM seems well established, specifically for emotional distraction of negative valence (hereinafter, unpleasant distraction) (Anticevic, Repovs, & Barch, 2010;Chuah et al, 2010;Denkova et al, 2010;Dolcos, Diaz-Granados, Wang, & McCarthy, 2008;García-Pacios, Del Río, Villalobos, Ruiz-Vargas, & Maest u, 2015;García-Pacios, Garc es, Del Río, & Maest u, 2015). While the role of emotionally positive distraction (i.e., pleasant distraction) has been less studied, evidence suggests that it is similarly easy to ignore as nonemotional (i.e., neutral) distraction is García-Pacios, Garc es, et al, 2015). To the best of our knowledge, all previous studies addressing the effect of emotional distraction on brain functional connectivity have focused on frontolimbic connections while coping with emotionally negative distraction (Chuah et al, 2010;Dolcos, Kragel, Wang, & McCarthy, 2006).…”

“…In a recently published study by our group, we explored the temporal dynamics of the cognitive and brain mechanisms that allow people to cope with emotional distraction (García-Pacios, Garc es, et al, 2015). Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we identified three time intervals of interest that appeared to be related to different mechanisms involved in the cognitive control of biologically relevant distractors.…”