Emotional and feature‐based modulation of the early posterior negativity

Abstract

The early posterior negativity (EPN) has been shown to be enhanced by emotional relative to neutral scene perception. A subset of studies has also reported a bias in the EPN toward pleasant relative to unpleasant scenes. Functional MRI research has also identified a region in lateral occipital cortex that shows a sensitivity to the visual perception of body parts, which may contribute to the EPN. Here, we assess the roles of rated scene pleasantness and the depiction of body parts on modulation of the EPN in two studies, using scenes that are chosen to be of equivalent perceptual complexity. In Study 1, we presented two distinct highly pleasant and arousing scene contents (erotic couples and moments of jubilant victory) as well as neutral people, threat, and mutilation scenes. As in prior research, the EPN was enhanced by emotionally arousing scenes, with the greatest modulation evoked by erotic scenes, although victory scenes elicited stronger ratings of pleasantness and equivalent ratings of arousal. This result suggests that the EPN may be sensitive to distinct features found in erotic scenes. To determine the extent to which body part perception modulates the EPN, Study 2 compared EPN modulation evoked by erotic scenes with nonerotic nudist scenes. Ratings of pleasantness and arousal were reduced, yet nudist scenes led to stronger modulation of the EPN compared to erotic scenes. These data indicate that, in addition to the emotional intensity of scenes, modulation of the EPN may in part reflect the discrimination of unclothed body parts.

Event-Related Potentials in Women on the Pill: Neural Correlates of Positive and Erotic Stimulus Processing in Oral Contraceptive Users

“…For analyses of the LPP, mean amplitudes in the temporal window between 400 and 800 ms were extracted at centro-parietal electrodes CP1, CP2, P1, and P2. For both ERP components, choice of time window and electrodes was based on visual inspection of grand average waveforms, significant electrode inter-correlations and results of previous research ( Farkas et al, 2020 ; Schindler et al, 2020 ).…”

“…However, gender differences have been observed with reduced EPN modulation in women vs. men ( Weinberg and Hajcak, 2010 ), indicating some involvement of sex steroids. Furthermore, Farkas et al (2020) observed greater EPN negativity in reaction to erotic and nudist scenes compared to other pleasant and unpleasant visual stimuli and interpreted this as a marker of heightened attention for sexual opportunities – a process that might be modulated by OC use.…”

“…The EPN is defined as a relative negativity at temporo-occipital electrode sites that is also sensitive to emotional content but occurs earlier than the LPP at approximately 150-300 ms after stimulus onset (Schupp et al, 2004(Schupp et al, , 2006Hajcak et al, 2012). It is therefore associated with earlier and broader stimulus distinction compared to the LPP (Weinberg and Hajcak, 2010;Farkas et al, 2020). To the best of our knowledge, no study so far assessed the EPN in association with MC or OC effects.…”

“…Activity of this system is modulated by estradiol and testosterone, both of which are downregulated by OC intake ( Rapkin et al, 2006 ; Zimmerman et al, 2014 ; Montoya and Bos, 2017 ). Recently, another ERP component has been suggested to be especially sensitive to erotic content– the early posterior negativity (EPN) ( Frank and Sabatinelli, 2019 ; Farkas et al, 2020 ). The EPN is defined as a relative negativity at temporo-occipital electrode sites that is also sensitive to emotional content but occurs earlier than the LPP at approximately 150–300 ms after stimulus onset ( Schupp et al, 2004 , 2006 ; Hajcak et al, 2012 ).…”

Behavioral and Brain Reactivity Associated With Drug-Related and Non-Drug-Related Emotional Stimuli in Methamphetamine Addicts

“…In fact, we detected no significant difference between the EPN elicited by MA-related and positive imagery, indicating that the responses were indistinguishable. The EPN is typically considered an ERP component related to early selective attentional processing and specific content distinctions of emotional stimuli (Weinberg and Hajcak, 2010;Farkas et al, 2020). Schupp et al (2006) identified the EPN as the first neural activity that reflects the emotional characteristics of a stimulus (Schupp et al, 2006).…”