情绪的自动加工与控制加工

由于人类注意资源有限,对相关刺激的加工经常以抑制对其它刺激的加工为代价。大量的研究表明,情绪的加工是注意加工过程的一个特例。通常认为情绪信息的加工是自动的,不需要注意资源的调节。但最近的研究结果倾向于支持对立的观点,即情绪信息的加工需要注意的控制。该文结合认知神经科学研究证据,对情绪的自动加工的观点提出质疑。主要的证据来自对情绪的皮层和皮层下通路的研究以及对盲视病人的研究。     

情绪记忆编码增强效应的认知神经机制

相对于中性刺激,情绪信息在记忆的准确性和细节方面都会得到显著的增强,这种增强效应在编码阶段受到情绪效价和唤醒的影响。涉及到的脑区主要包括:双侧杏仁核、海马前部、海马回和前额叶皮层。杏仁核—内侧颞叶(MTL)系统支持唤醒信息的编码增强效应,反映的是情绪对记忆自动化的影响,属于自动加工,主要受情绪唤醒的调节;前额叶网络支持消极无唤醒信息的编码增强效应,对情绪信息的加工属于控制加工,主要受情绪效价的调节。     

内隐情绪调节:一种有效的自我保护

内隐情绪调节是情绪调节的一种重要形式,它是指个体在没有意识监控和意图的情况下改变了自身情绪反应的品质、强度和持续时间等的一种情绪活动过程。内隐情绪调节的内部机制是自动反向调节,它能让个体的情绪保持平衡状态,具有自我保护作用;其实验研究过程一般分为诱导特定情绪、引发内隐调节过程两个步骤。内隐情绪调节涉及的脑区主要有前扣带回皮层、腹外侧前额叶皮层和腹内侧前额叶皮层。内隐情绪调节的形式包括内隐认知重评和情绪标签等,这些调节方式本身可能受个体差异、情绪体验强度等多种因素的影响。     

情绪自动化加工的证据与争议

情绪信息对人类的生存非常重要, 研究者一直在探讨情绪产生的本质问题：情绪的产生是“自动”的吗？已有的大量实验证据表明, 情绪可以被快速识别, 甚至在非注意条件下或者无意识条件下, 情绪信息也可以被大脑(尤其是杏仁核)识别。大量实验结果分析了情绪自动化加工的表现, 并探讨了情绪自动化加工的大脑机制：皮层下通路。视觉信息在视网膜接受后, 经上丘脑与枕核传递至杏仁核, 这条通路被称为皮层下通路, 负责情绪信息的快速化加工。但是新的研究对已有的实验范式与技术手段进行了质疑, 反驳情绪的自动化加工, 并质疑皮层下通路存在的可能性。为了进一步理清情绪加工的本质与大脑机制, 今后的研究应当采用更为严格地控制意识、注意资源的实验范式, 以及采用更精确、更高时间与空间分辨率的技术手段。     

面孔表情和声音情绪信息整合加工的脑机制

在现实生活中, 有效的情绪识别往往依赖于不同通道间的信息整合(如, 面孔、声音)。本文梳理相关研究认为, 面孔表情和声音情绪信息在早期知觉阶段即产生交互作用, 且初级感知觉皮层负责两者信息的编码; 而在晚期决策阶段, 杏仁核、颞叶等高级脑区完成对情绪信息内容的认知评估整合; 此外, 神经振荡活动在多个频段上的功能耦合促进了跨通道情绪信息整合。未来研究需要进一步探究两者整合是否与情绪冲突有关, 以及不一致的情绪信息在整合中是否有优势, 探明不同频段的神经振荡如何促进面孔表情和声音情绪信息整合, 以便更深入地了解面孔表情和声音情绪信息整合的神经动力学基础。     

情绪调节策略：认知重评优于表达抑制

Gross提出情绪调节产生于情绪发生的过程中,主要有两种普遍的调节策略：认知重评和表达抑制。本文探讨了这两种策略在情绪反应和神经机制上的异同,以及二者对认知活动造成的不同影响。与表达抑制相比,认知重评能更好地降低情绪体验,减少生理反应和交感神经系统的激活,降低杏仁核的激活水平,并对认知活动不产生影响;而表达抑制虽然能够降低情绪行为,但生理反应和交感神经系统的激活却增强,而杏仁核激活水平并未降低,且干扰认知活动的完成。神经病理学的证据进一步表明,相较于表达抑制,认知重评能更好地调节情绪,有利于人们的身心健康。     

决策中主观价值计算与整合的神经机制及其影响因素

决策在人类社会发展历程中扮演着非常重要的角色,而学界对其神经机制的探讨才不过几十年的时间。价值决策理论认为,人们先计算和表征事物的价值,随后进行比较和决策。在人脑中负责主观价值计算的神经基础有腹内侧前额叶皮层、眶额皮层、杏仁核等,而负责价值整合的脑区有腹侧纹状体、腹内侧前额叶皮层、眶额皮层等。人脑将不同属性及成本按照曲线交互模式进行整合形成主观价值,并通过自我控制、注意、认知调节和情绪调节等手段,调节主观价值。未来需要强调模式分析、个体差异和网络分析对价值计算与整合的影响。     

左侧前额叶语言加工功能研究综述

1 引言 探讨左前额叶的认知功能是目前脑成像研究的焦点之一。前额叶皮层占人类大脑的1/3。70年代初,鲁利亚提出大脑的三个机能系统时认为,额叶属于第三机能系统,负责编制行为程序,调节、控制行为,它对于完成很多高级认知加工,如计划、控制、问题解决等有着重要作用。近年来不断有研究发现,左侧前额叶还参与了许多和语言加工有关的活动,特别是额下回、Broca区等大脑区域被研究者进行了广泛地探讨。     

左侧眶额皮层在自动情绪调节下注意选择中的作用：来自经颅直流电刺激的证据

前人研究表明自动情绪调节能够自上而下地影响情绪及情绪性注意过程。近来有研究提示自动情绪调节与眶额皮层(orbitofrontal cortex, OFC)有关。也有研究表明左侧OFC的激活影响负性注意偏向。本研究采用经颅直流电刺激技术, 考察阈下启动情绪控制目标条件下, 抑制左侧眶额皮层兴奋性是否影响负性注意偏向。结果发现, 使用阴极刺激抑制左侧OFC活动可以加快被试对与恐惧刺激位置一致的探测点的反应。该结果提示左侧眶额皮层是自动情绪调节下情绪性注意选择相关的重要脑区。     

亲社会行为的认知过程及脑神经基础

亲社会行为是指有利于他人和社会的行为,包括合作、分享、助人、安慰等。亲社会行为产生主要涉及几种认知过程:对他人行为和情绪的注意、社会信息加工、对结果的奖赏预期、社会规范表征、自我控制、以及社会信息整合与价值计算等。基于这些认知过程,研究发现,亲社会行为主要与前脑岛和前扣带回、默认网络背内侧子系统、奖赏系统以及前额叶皮层等神经区域有关,因此提出亲社会行为共同的认知-脑神经回路。未来可以对亲社会行为脑神经基础的共性、功能连接以及跨文化研究等方面做进一步探讨。     

Positive emotion modulates cognitive control: An event‐related potentials study

There is substantial evidence to indicate that negative emotion can modulate cognitive control processing. However, only a few studies have investigated this effect with positive emotion. Therefore, the present study explored the electrophysiological correlates of the impact of positive emotional stimuli on cognitive control, using event‐related potentials (ERPs). Sixteen healthy young adults completed a modified Simon task (Simon, 1969). Behavioral data indicated that reaction times were faster for positive emotional stimuli than for neutral emotional stimuli in the incongruent condition, but not in the congruent condition, which suggested that positive emotion expedited conflict resolution. The ERP data showed that two negative ERP components (N300–400 and N450–550) were associated with the positive emotional stimuli in the incongruent minus congruent condition. It is suggested that these components may respectively be related to the conflict monitoring (N300–400) and response selection (N450–550) stages of cognitive control processing. Overall, our results indicated that positive emotion could facilitate cognitive control processing. These results are in line with the neuropsychological theory, according to which, positive emotion could modulate cognitive control mediated by increased dopamine levels in frontal brain areas.     

Emotion and Pain: A Functional Cerebral Systems Integration

Emotion and pain are psychological constructs that have received extensive attention in neuropsychological research. However, neuropsychological models of emotional processing have made more progress in describing how brain regions interact to process emotion. Theories of emotional processing can describe inter-hemispheric and intra-hemispheric interactions during emotional processing. Due to similarities between emotion and pain, it is thought that emotional models can be applied to pain. The following review examines the neuropsychology of emotion and pain using a functional cerebral systems approach. Specific comparisons are made between pain and anger. Attention is given to differences in cerebral function and physiology that may contribute to the processing of emotion and pain. Suggestions for future research in emotion and pain are given.     

Measuring the executive regulation of emotion with self-rating scales in a nonclinical population

Prefrontal systems play an important role in the regulation of emotion as evidenced by clinical neuroimaging studies. Both subjective and objective neuropsychological tests provide functional evidence of executive dysfunction in emotional deregulation. The present authors evaluated these relationships here in a nonclinical community sample using the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale, Profile of Mood States (POMS), and Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS). Positive correlations uniformly emerged between prefrontal system dysfunction and negative emotional states (anger, depression, anxiety, stress, confusion, and fatigue), whereas positive emotion (vigor) showed a modest inverse correlation with prefrontal system dysfunction, even after control for demographic influences. These relationships may result from cognitive strategies for managing emotion mediated by reciprocal connections between prefrontal systems and the limbic system. The findings corroborated those of other methodologies, supporting the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale (FrSBe) as a valid tool to measure prefrontal function in nonclinical populations.     

睡眠不足对人际交互的影响及其认知神经机制

睡眠不足会对人的认知、情感和人际交互产生诸多影响。这种影响在社会情绪层面表现为个体情绪共情和认知共情的减少,易激惹性与愤怒情绪的增加;在社会行为层面则表现为亲社会行为的减少和攻击行为的增加。在睡眠不足状态下,情绪系统和认知系统功能连接的减弱可能是这些变化的潜在机制。未来应结合生态效度较高的睡眠操作手段,系统考察睡眠不足如何导致各种高级社会情绪的改变,以及这些社会情绪的变化如何导致社会行为的变化。     

Positive emotion impedes emotional but not cognitive conflict processing

Cognitive control enables successful goal-directed behavior by resolving a conflict between opposing action tendencies, while emotional control arises as a consequence of emotional conflict processing such as in irony. While negative emotion facilitates both cognitive and emotional conflict processing, it is unclear how emotional conflict processing is affected by positive emotion (e.g., humor). In 2 EEG experiments, we investigated the role of positive audiovisual target stimuli in cognitive and emotional conflict processing. Participants categorized either spoken vowels (cognitive task) or their emotional valence (emotional task) and ignored the visual stimulus dimension. Behaviorally, a positive target showed no influence on cognitive conflict processing, but impeded emotional conflict processing. In the emotional task, response time conflict costs were higher for positive than for neutral targets. In the EEG, we observed an interaction of emotion by congruence in the P200 and N200 ERP components in emotional but not in cognitive conflict processing. In the emotional conflict task, the P200 and N200 conflict effect was larger for emotional than neutral targets. Thus, our results show that emotion affects conflict processing differently as a function of conflict type and emotional valence. This suggests that there are conflict- and valence-specific mechanisms modulating executive control.     

Prolegomenon to the structure of emotion: Gleanings from neuropsychology

Abstract

This article presents a model of the structure of emotion developed primarily from a consideration of neuropsychological evidence and behavioural data which have bearing on neuropsychological theories. Valence is first considered and highlighted as a defining characteristic of emotion. Next, the use of facial behaviour and autonomic nervous system patterns as defining characteristics of discrete emotions is questioned on empirical and conceptual grounds. The regulation of emotion is considered and proposed to affect the very structure of emotion itself. If there is an invariant pattern of biological activity across different instantiations of the same emotion, it is likely to be found in higher-order associative networks of central nervous system activity, the very same networks that subserve goal-directed behaviour and other cognitive functions. Drawing upon evolutionary considerations, it is argued that what is basic about emotion are the dimensions of approach and withdrawal. The nature of the linkage between such action tendencies and emotion is discussed.     

Effects of Damage to Right-Hemisphere Brain Structures on Spontaneous Emotional and Social Judgments

Recent work in cognitive and social neuroscience has focused on the neural substrates of social judgment. The present study explores the effects of damage to the right-hemisphere somatosensory cortices (RSS), a region known for its role in emotion recognition. Seven subjects with RSS damage were shown a short movie depicting objects that move in socially suggestive ways, a stimulus that typically elicits spontaneous social and emotional attributions from normal subjects. The spontaneous verbal responses of RSS-damaged subjects to this movie were compared to those of normal subjects as well as brain-damaged control subjects; the data were derived using a word count and categorization computer program. This method measures spontaneous social and emotional judgments rather than the more typical rating and labeling measures used in neuropsychological studies of social judgment. As predicted, relative to brain-damaged and normal controls, subjects with RSS damage reacted to the stimulus movie with fewer words in categories describing emotional and social processes, despite using a similar total number of words (and slightly more words describing movement, a control category). These results provide further evidence for the role of the RSS in social/emotional processing and identify a role for the RSS in automatic representation in ourselves of body states of others to foster emotion recognition and social cognition.     

Going with your gut: How William James' theory of emotions brings insights to risk perception and decision making research

The basic premise of William James' theory of emotions – that bodily changes lead to emotional feelings – ignited debate about the relative importance of bodily processes and cognitive appraisals in determining emotions. Similarly, theories of risk perception have been expanding to include emotional and physiological processes along with cognitive processes. Taking a closer look at The Principles of Psychology, this article examines how James' propositions support and extend current research on risk perception and decision making. Specifically, James (1) described emotional feelings and their related cognitions in ways similar to current dual processing models; (2) defended the proposition that emotions and their expressions serve useful and adaptive functions; (3) suggested that anticipating an emotion can trigger that emotion due to associations learned from past experiences; and (4) highlighted individual differences in emotional experiences that map on well with individual differences in risk-related decision making.     

Specificity of meta-emotion effects on moral decision-making

A recently proposed dual process theory of moral decision-making posits that utilitarian reasoning (approving of harmful actions that maximize good consequences) is the result of cognitive control of emotion. This suggests that deficits in emotional awareness will contribute to increased utilitarianism. The present study explored the relative contributions of the different facets of alexithymia and the closely related constructs of emotional intelligence and mood awareness to utilitarian decision making. Participants (N = 86) completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Trait Meta Mood Scale, the Mood Awareness Scale, and a series of high-conflict, personal moral dilemmas validated by Greene et al. (2008). A brief neuropsychological battery was also administered to assess the possible confounds of verbal reasoning and abstract thinking ability. Principal components analysis revealed two latent factors-clarity of emotion and attention to emotion-which cut across all three meta-emotion instruments. Of these, low clarity of emotion-reflecting difficulty in reasoning thoughtfully about one's emotions-predicted utilitarian outcomes and provided unique variance beyond that of verbal and abstract reasoning abilities. Results are discussed in the context of individual differences in emotion regulation.