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Parallel processing of affective visual stimuli |
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| Authors: | Peter Peyk,Harald T. Schupp,reas Keil,Thomas Elbert, Markus Junghö fer |
| Affiliation: | Department of Psychology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany; NIMH Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainsville, Florida, USA; Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University of Münster, Münster, Germany |
| Abstract: | Event-related potential (ERP) studies of affective picture processing have demonstrated an early posterior negativity (EPN) for emotionally arousing pictures that are embedded in a rapid visual stream. The present study examined the selective processing of emotional pictures while systematically varying picture presentation rates between 1 and 16 Hz. Previous results with presentation rates up to 5 Hz were replicated in that emotional compared to neutral pictures were associated with a greater EPN. Discrimination among emotional and neutral contents was maintained up to 12 Hz. To explore the notion of parallel processing, convolution analysis was used: EPNs generated by linear superposition of slow rate ERPs explained 70%–93% of the variance of measured EPNs, giving evidence for an impressive capacity of parallel affective discrimination in rapid serial picture presentation. |
| Keywords: | ERP Emotion Attention Rapid serial visual presentation |