Name: Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition (Video) | JoVE Journal
Uploaded: 2012-02-01T12:00:00.000+00:00
Duration: 16 min 8 s
Description: Explore how emotional distractions impair working memory using fMRI to record brain activity during cognitive tasks. This protocol identifies neural correlates of emotion-cognition interference in healthy and clinical populations.

ai_agent_IP

ai_agent

maintenance

instantTrialDurationMinutes

isBiopharma

enableNewMyJoveSectionDesign

educationFeatures

seoMetaApi

ai_copilot_institution_blacklist

ai_chat_institution_blacklist

freeAccessWindow

ssoRoleCapture

scheduledMaintenanceBanner

joveLabsFeatures

disable_autoplay_for_bots

extended_trial_duration

5 minutes

FD was supported by a Young Investigator Award from the US National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression and a CPRF Award from the Canadian Psychiatric Research Foundation.

I. Task Design, Stimuli, and Experimental Protocol 
<ol>
 <li>The basic task of this protocol is a delayed-response WM task, where novel task-irrelevant emotional and neutral distracters are presented during the delay interval between the memoranda and probes (see Figure 1 for diagram illustrating the original task). Event-related fMRI data are recorded while participants perform this task. Scrambled versions of the actual distracters can also be used as perceptual controls, which have identical basic properties (e.g., spatial frequency and luminance). </li>
</ol>
<img src="/files/ftp_upload/2434/2434fig1.jpg" alt="Cognitive process diagram; phases and timing for memoranda, distracters, and probe tasks." data-altupdatedat="1788235205000" data-alt="Figure 1"> 
 Figure 1. General Diagram of the Delayed-Response Working Memory Task with Distraction (from 6, with permission). Three faces are used in the memoranda in order to strongly engage the dorsal executive system, and pairs of novel distracters are used in order to increase the impact of emotional distraction on WM performance and brain activity. The impact of emotional distracters can also be increased by presenting the pictures in color (not shown), and by pairing distracters with similar emotional and semantic content. In this context, careful attention should be paid to also match emotional and neutral pictures in basic properties, such as brightness and spatial frequency 15, to avoid introducing possible confounds. Participants are instructed to maintain their focus on the WM task while still processing the distracters, and to make quick and accurate responses to the probes by pressing a response button (1 = Old, 2 = New). For stimulus presentation, we used CIGAL (<a href="http://www.nitrc.org/projects/cigal/">http://www.nitrc.org/projects/cigal/</a>). The memoranda and probes can be presented in color or black &amp; white.
<ol start="2">
 <li>It is advised that the sex of the faces in the memoranda has balanced proportions of males (50%) and females (50%). Similar balanced proportion is also advised for the Old (50%) and New (50%) probes. The difficulty of the WM task can be varied by changing these proportions and/or by varying other factors - e.g., the similarity of the facial features among faces from same memorandum and their similarity with the probes, and/or by manipulating the presence/absence of extra-facial features in the memoranda (see also the movie). In addition to faces, other stimuli can also be used as memoranda and probes 9. </li>
 <li> It is recommended that 30-40 trials per condition 6, 11 be used with this design, although given its stability as a "slow-paced" design robust fMRI signal can also be obtained with fewer trials (see Supplemental Materials from 6). This allows collection of fMRI data in ~1.5-2 hrs., which is feasible to use in both healthy and clinical participants. Despite its slight disadvantage due to the relatively lower number of trials that can be involved compared to "fast-paced" designs, this design has the advantages of obtaining more stable single-trial fMRI signal and better separation of the signal associated with individual trials and within trial stimuli/phases, which are also advantageous for functional connectivity analyses. </li>
 <li> Variation of the distracters type also contributes to the versatility of this design, by adapting it according to the goals of investigations and the targeted populations. Emotional and neutral distracters in the original design 6 were selected from the International Affective Picture System 16, but similar effects can be obtained with other novel stimuli that are effective as distracters 12, and/or with manipulations that increase the sensitivity of the WM task in detecting behavioral differences (e.g., by also assessing the participants' confidence in their responses) 11. </li>
 <li> For instance, in a recent study in post-war veterans with or without post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) 12, the emotional IAPS pictures inducing general negative emotions were replaced with combat-related pictures. These pictures were expected to induce emotions that are more specifically linked to combat-related traumas, and thus be more effective distracters in combat-exposed cohorts, particularly in the PTSD group. Moreover, stimuli that induce specific negative emotions (e.g., anxiety) or emotionally positive stimuli may also be used as distracters. For example, faces displaying fearful expressions could induce social anxiety, and thus be effective in investigating the impact of transient anxiety-inducing distraction on WM 11. Also, similar effects can be found with positive distracters 17. </li>
 <li> Finally, in conjunction with other measures (e.g., behavioral- and personality-related) this paradigm can also be used to investigate relationships between brain activity and individual differences in various aspects that affect cognitive performance in this task 8, 10, 11. </li>
</ol>
II. Preparing the Subject for the Scan
All participants should provide written informed consent prior to running the experimental protocol, which should be approved by an Ethics Board.
Prior to Entering the Scanning Room
<ol>
 <li> On the day of scanning, participant's current affective state is assessed, to control for the effect of mood on the WM task with distraction. In conjunction with post-scanning assessments, these initial evaluations can be also used to screen for changes in mood as a result of participating in the study 11. </li>
 <li> Prior to the scan, the participant is informed in detail of the scan procedures, and is given specific instructions for the behavioral task. The participant also completes a short practice session to familiarize with the task. </li>
</ol>
Entering the Scanning Room
<ol start="3">
 <li> The participant lies supine on the scanning bed, with additional cushioning for the head, to ensure comfort during the scan and minimize movement. To further minimize head movement, the non-adhesive side of a length of tape may be wrapped lightly around the subject's forehead. Subjects are given ear protection as well as isolation headphones to communicate with the experimenter during the MRI scan.</li>
 <li> The subject's right hand is positioned comfortably on the response box. Before starting data collection, it is critical to make sure that the response buttons work properly and that the subject can see the screen projection clearly for stimulus presentation. An emergency stop button is also placed nearby, so that the subject may indicate any urgent need to stop the scanner. </li>
</ol>
Following the Scanning Session
<ol start="5">
 <li> Additional tasks may be used for further behavioral assessments - e.g., to determine participants' sensitivity to the distracters, by rating the emotional valence/intensity of distracters and/or the subjectively perceived distractibility of the distracters. These ratings can be used to ensure that subjective perception of emotional stimuli used during scanning replicates previous effects shown in the literature, and individual differences in the ratings can be used to investigate their influence on the neural mechanisms mediating the detrimental effect of emotion on cognition 6, 8. </li>
 <li> Assessments of personality traits (e.g., trait anxiety, emotional reactivity) can also be made after the MRI scanning, if not performed prior to scanning 11. </li>
</ol>
III. Data Recording and Analysis
Scanning Parameters 
In the original study 6, we collected MRI data using a 4 Tesla General Electric scanner for MRI recordings, but for the more recent versions of the task we were also successful in collecting MRI data with a 1.5 T scanner 11. In the 4T scanner, series of 30 functional slices (voxel size = 4 x 4 x 4 mm) were acquired axially using an inverse-spiral pulse sequence (TR = 2000 ms; TE = 31 ms; field of view = 256 x 256mm), thus allowing for full-brain coverage. Similarly, in the 1.5 scanner, series of 28 functional slices (voxel size = 4 x 4 x 4 mm), were acquired axially using an echoplanar sequence (TR = 2000 ms; TE = 40 ms; field of view = 256 x 256 mm). High-resolution structural images were also acquired in axial orientation (in-plane resolution = 1 mm2; anatomical-functional ratio = 4:1).
Data Analysis
We use Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM: <a href="http://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/spm/">http://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/spm/</a>) in combination with in-house Matlab-based tools. Pre-processing involves typical steps: quality assurance*, TR alignment, motion correction, co-registration, normalization, and smoothing (using a 8 x 8 x 8 mm Kernel); *basic quality assurance involved visual inspection of the data, to detect gross movements of the participants and motion-related artefacts in the data, as well as identification of volumes with unusual spikes in the MR signal. Individual and group-level statistical analyses involve comparisons of brain activity according to distracter type (emotional vs. neutral distraction). Moreover, correlations of brain imaging data with subjective or objective measures of distractibility (e.g., emotional and distractibility ratings and working memory performance)6,8,11 and/or scores indexing personality measures (e.g., trait anxiety)11 can also be performed, to investigate how brain activity co-varies with individual differences in those measures. Analyses in all of our studies using this protocol have typically focused on activity observed during the delay interval, when the distracters are presented, but activity time-locked to other events (e.g., probes) can also be investigated.
IV. Representative Results
<img src="/files/ftp_upload/2434/2434fig2.jpg" alt="fMRI brain activity analysis diagram; graphs show dlPFC, vlPFC, LPC, FFG signal changes." data-altupdatedat="1788235205000" data-alt="Figure 2"> 
Figure 2. Opposite Pattern of Activity in the Ventral vs. Dorsal Brain Systems in the Presence of Emotional Distraction (from 6, with permission). Emotional distracters produced enhanced activity in ventral affective brain regions (red blobs), such as the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) and amygdala (not shown), while producing decreased activity in dorsal executive brain regions (blue blobs), such as dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and lateral parietal cortex (LPC). The central image shows activation maps of the direct contrast between the most vs. the least distracting conditions (i.e., emotional vs. scrambled), superimposed on a high-resolution brain image displayed in a lateral view of the right hemisphere. The color horizontal bars at the bottom of the brain image indicate the gradient of t values of the activation maps. The line graphs show the time course of activity in representative dorsal and ventral brain regions (indicated by color-coded arrows). The grey rectangular boxes above the x-axes indicate the onset and duration of the memoranda, distracters, and probes, respectively. FFG = Fusiform Gyrus.

<ol><li>Dolcos, F., Iordan, A. D., Dolcos, S. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Neural+correlates+of+emotion-cognition+interactions%3A+A+review+of+evidence+from+brain+imaging+investigations%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22J.+Cogn.+Psychol%22%5BJournal%5D)">Neural correlates of emotion-cognition interactions: A review of evidence from brain imaging investigations.</a> J. Cogn. Psychol. 23, 669-694 (2011).</li>
<li>Shafer, A., Iordan, A., Cabeza, R., Dolcos, F. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Brain+imaging+investigation+of+the+memory-enhancing+effect+of+emotion%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22J.+Vis.+Exp%22%5BJournal%5D)">Brain imaging investigation of the memory-enhancing effect of emotion.</a> J. Vis. Exp. (51), (2011).</li>
<li>Dolcos, F., LaBar, K. S., Cabeza, R. <a target="_blank" href="http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&safe=off&q=author%3aDolcos%2C+F+%22Memory+and+Emotion%3A+Interdisciplinary+Perspectives%22">Memory and Emotion: Interdisciplinary Perspectives</a>. Uttl, B., Ohta, N., Siegenthaler, A. L. , Blackwell Publishing. Malden, MA. 107-134 (2006).</li>
<li>Dolcos, F., Denkova, E. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Neural+correlates+of+encoding+emotional+memories%3A+A+review+of+functional+neuroimaging+evidence%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Cell.+Sci.+Reviews%22%5BJournal%5D)">Neural correlates of encoding emotional memories: A review of functional neuroimaging evidence.</a> Cell. Sci. Reviews. 5, 78-122 (2008).</li>
<li>Dolcos, F. <a target="_blank" href="http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&safe=off&q=author%3aDolcos%2C+F+%22The+Impact+of+Emotion+on+Memory%3A+Evidence+from+Brain+Imaging+Studies%22">The Impact of Emotion on Memory: Evidence from Brain Imaging Studies</a>. , VDM Verlag. (2010).</li>
<li>Dolcos, F., McCarthy, G. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Brain+systems+mediating+cognitive+interference+by+emotional+distraction%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22J.+Neurosci%22%5BJournal%5D)">Brain systems mediating cognitive interference by emotional distraction.</a> J. Neurosci. 26, 2072-2079 (2006).</li>
<li>Dolcos, F., Kragel, P., Wang, L., McCarthy, G. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Role+of+the+inferior+frontal+cortex+in+coping+with+distracting+emotions%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Neuroreport%22%5BJournal%5D)">Role of the inferior frontal cortex in coping with distracting emotions.</a> Neuroreport. 17, 1591-1594 (2006).</li>
<li>Dolcos, F., Diaz-Granados, P., Wang, L., McCarthy, G. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Opposing+influences+of+emotional+and+non-emotional+distracters+upon+sustained+prefrontal+cortex+activity+during+a+delayed-response+working+memory+task%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Neuropsychologia%22%5BJournal%5D)">Opposing influences of emotional and non-emotional distracters upon sustained prefrontal cortex activity during a delayed-response working memory task.</a> Neuropsychologia. 46, 326-335 (2008).</li>
<li>Anticevic, A., Repovs, G., Barch, D. M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Resisting+emotional+interference%3A+brain+regions+facilitating+working+memory+performance+during+negative+distraction%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Cogn.+Affect.+Behav.+Neurosci%22%5BJournal%5D)">Resisting emotional interference: brain regions facilitating working memory performance during negative distraction.</a> Cogn. Affect. Behav. Neurosci. 10, 159-173 (2010).</li>
<li>Chuah, L. Y., Dolcos, F. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Sleep+deprivation+and+interference+by+emotional+distracters%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Sleep%22%5BJournal%5D)">Sleep deprivation and interference by emotional distracters.</a> Sleep. 33, 1305-1313 (2010).</li>
<li>Denkova, E. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((The+impact+of+anxiety-inducing+distraction+on+cognitive+performance%3A+A+combined+brain+imaging+and+personality+investigation%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22PLoS+One%22%5BJournal%5D)">The impact of anxiety-inducing distraction on cognitive performance: A combined brain imaging and personality investigation.</a> PLoS One. 5, e14150-e14150 (2010).</li>
<li>Morey, R. A., Dolcos, F. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((The+role+of+trauma-related+distractors+on+neural+systems+for+working+memory+and+emotion+processing+in+posttraumatic+stress+disorder%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22J.+Psychiatr.+Res%22%5BJournal%5D)">The role of trauma-related distractors on neural systems for working memory and emotion processing in posttraumatic stress disorder.</a> J. Psychiatr. Res. 43, 809-817 (2009).</li>
<li>Anticevic, A., Repovs, G., Corlett, P. R., Barch, D. M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Negative+and+nonemotional+interference+with+visual+working+memory+in+schizophrenia%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Biol.+Psychiatry%22%5BJournal%5D)">Negative and nonemotional interference with visual working memory in schizophrenia.</a> Biol. Psychiatry. 70, 1159-1168 (2011).</li>
<li>Diaz, M. T. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((The+influence+of+emotional+distraction+on+verbal+working+memory%3A+An+fMRI+investigation+comparing+individuals+with+schizophrenia+and+healthy+adults%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22J.+Psychiatr.+Res%22%5BJournal%5D)">The influence of emotional distraction on verbal working memory: An fMRI investigation comparing individuals with schizophrenia and healthy adults.</a> J. Psychiatr. Res. 45, 1184-1193 (2011).</li>
<li>Delplanque, S., N'Diaye, K., Scherer, K., Grandjean, D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Spatial+frequencies+or+emotional+effects%3F+A+systematic+measure+of+spatial+frequencies+for+IAPS+pictures+by+a+discrete+wavelet+analysis%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22J.+Neurosci.+Methods%22%5BJournal%5D)">Spatial frequencies or emotional effects? A systematic measure of spatial frequencies for IAPS pictures by a discrete wavelet analysis.</a> J. Neurosci. Methods. 165, 144-150 (2007).</li>
<li>Lang, P. J., Bradley, M. M., Cuthberg, B. N. <a target="_blank" href="http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&safe=off&q=author%3aLang%2C+PJ+%22NIMH+Center+for+the+Study+of+Emotion+and+Attention%22">NIMH Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention</a>. , Gainesville, FL. (1997).</li>
<li>Iordan, A. D. Behavioral and brain imaging investigation of the impact of positive and negative distraction on cognitive performance. The Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, Washington DC, , (2011).</li>
<li>Oei, N. Y. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Stress+shifts+brain+activation+towards+ventral+%27affective%27+areas+during+emotional+distraction%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Soc.+Cogn.+Affect.+Neurosci.+%5BEpub+ahead+of%22%5BJournal%5D)">Stress shifts brain activation towards ventral 'affective' areas during emotional distraction.</a> Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci. [Epub ahead of. , (2011).</li>
<li>Dolcos, F., Miller, B., Kragel, P., Jha, A., McCarthy, G. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Regional+brain+differences+in+the+effect+of+distraction+during+the+delay+interval+of+a+working+memory+task%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Brain+Res%22%5BJournal%5D)">Regional brain differences in the effect of distraction during the delay interval of a working memory task.</a> Brain Res. 1152, 171-181 (2007).</li>
<li>Morey, R. A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Serotonin+transporter+gene+polymorphisms+and+brain+function+during+emotional+distraction+from+cognitive+processing+in+posttraumatic+stress+disorder%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22BMC+Psychiatry%22%5BJournal%5D)">Serotonin transporter gene polymorphisms and brain function during emotional distraction from cognitive processing in posttraumatic stress disorder.</a> BMC Psychiatry. 11, (2011).</li>
</ol>

No conflicts of interest declared.

This experimental design provided initial brain imaging evidence that the detrimental effect of emotional distraction on the ongoing cognitive processes entails reciprocal modulations between the HotEmo ventral neural system and the ColdEx dorsal system. This dorso-ventral dissociation was linked to impaired WM performance in the presence of emotional distraction 6, has been systematically replicated in normal 8-11, clinical 12-14, and other altered conditions, such as s...

brain imaging investigation of the impairing effect of emotion on cognition

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition

Emotions can impact cognition by exerting both enhancing (e.g., better memory for emotional events) and impairing (e.g., increased emotional distractibility) effects (reviewed in 1). Complementing our recent protocol 2 describing a method that allows investigation of the neural correlates of the memory-enhancing effect of emotion (see also 1, 3-5), here we present a protocol that allows investigation of the neural correlates of the detrimental impact of emotion on cognition. The main feature of this method is that it allows identification of reciprocal modulations between activity in a ventral neural system, involved in 'hot' emotion processing (HotEmo system), and a dorsal system, involved in higher-level 'cold' cognitive/executive processing (ColdEx system), which are linked to cognitive performance and to individual variations in behavior (reviewed in 1). Since its initial introduction 6, this design has proven particularly versatile and influential in the elucidation of various aspects concerning the neural correlates of the detrimental impact of emotional distraction on cognition, with a focus on working memory (WM), and of coping with such distraction 7,11, in both healthy 8-11 and clinical participants 12-14.

We present a protocol that allows investigation of the neural mechanisms mediating the detrimental impact of emotion on cognition, using functional magnetic resonance imaging. This protocol can be used with both healthy and clinical participants.

Emotions can impact cognition by exerting both enhancing (e.g., better memory for emotional events) and impairing (e.g., increased emotional ...

The overall goal of this experimental protocol is to investigate the neural correlates of the detrimental impact of emotion on cognition with a focus on working memory processes. This is achieved by recording brain activity using FMRI, while participants perform a working memory task with emotional distraction presented during the delay interval between the memoranda and probes following the creation of the basic working memory task, distracters are selected according to the goals of the investigation and targeted populations. For instance, if no specific emotions are targeted, emotional stimuli inducing general emotional responses, positive or negative can be employed.Whereas if the effects of specific emotions such as fear are targeted, fear inducing distractions may be used either in healthy or in clinical participants. Next, behavioral and brain imaging data collected while participants perform the working memory task with distraction are analyzed in order to identify differential effects of emotional distraction on working memory performance and the associated neural correlates results are obtained that show patterns of brain activity linked to a detrimental effect of emotional distraction on working memory performance, as well as brain activity associated with the ability to cope with emotional distraction. Typical targeted brain regions include areas that are associated with the ability to stay focused, which are part of a so-called dorsal executive neural system here illustrated in blue, and regions that are involved in motion processing, which are part of a ventral effective system illustrated in red.The implications of this technique extend toward understanding and possibly diagnosing anxiety disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder because it allows identification of changes associated with dysfunctional responses to emotional distraction. Well, the main advantage of this technique over existing methods like those involving the simultaneous presentation of goal relevant information and task irrelevant emotional distraction, is that allows us to better separate the neural correlates in response to emotional distraction from those associated with ongoing cognitive processes. Moreover, this paradigm not only allows us to investigate the neuro correlates of cognitive interference, but also the neuro responses of coping with emotional distraction.The basic task of this protocol is a delayed response working memory task in which novel emotional and non-emotional stimuli are presented as task irrelevant distractors during the delay interval between the memoranda and probes. Scrambled versions with identical basic properties such as spatial frequency and luminance to those of the actual distractors can be used as perceptual controls. Alternatively, trials with no distraction can also be used as basic controls.It should be noted that the emotional and non-emotional distractors should be used in different trials. Also, to increase the impact, it is recommended to pair distractors with similar emotional and semantic properties. Emotional and neutral distractors in the original design just seen can be selected from the international effective picture system, but similar effects can be obtained with other novel stimuli that are effective as distractors.For instance, faces displaying angry expressions could induce specific emotional responses such as social anxiety, and thus could be effective in investigating the impact of transient anxiety inducing distraction on working memory. Similarly, in clinical participants such as post-traumatic stress disorder patients, the specificity of distraction could be increased by presenting trauma related stimuli. For example, using combat related pictures in war veterans with PTSD.If anxiety inducing facial stimuli are used to increase the impact, we suggest morphing them as seen here, rather than presenting the faces as static images. Using your chosen stimulation presentation software set up this task as an event related design with three faces in the working memory task, followed by novel distractors. Participants should be instructed to maintain their focus on the meran while still processing the distractors and to make quick and accurate responses to the single face probes by pressing a response button, one indicating old or remembered, and two, indicating new additionally manipulations that increase the sensitivity of the working memory task In detecting behavioral differences such as assessing the participant's confidence in their responses can also be implemented.Note that for illustration purposes, this example does not involve the real timing of the task. Finally, the difficulty of the working memory task can be varied by manipulating the presence of color and or extra facial features in the memoranda, as well as the similarity of the faces when the subject arrives. Be sure to obtain written and informed consent and to screen for MRI safety.Also assess for present emotional state as well as personality traits such as anxiety and emotional reactivity. I'd like for you to complete a few questionnaires assessing your current emotional state. Okay, It should take about 10 minutes Prior to the scan.Inform the participant in detail of the scan procedures and give specific instructions for the behavioral task to avoid discomfort and to create increased familiarity with the task. Also, give the participant an abbreviated practice run. Now bring the subject into the scanning room and instruct him or her to lie supine on the scanning bed.Provide ear protection as well as isolation headphones for communication during the scan place additional cushioning around the head to ensure comfort during the scan and to minimize movement. Also, the non-adhesive side of a length of tape may be wrapped lightly around the participant's forehead. To further minimize head movement, position the subject's right hand comfortably on the response box and ensure that the response buttons work properly.Place an emergency stop button nearby so that the subject may indicate any urgent need to stop the scanner, and finally, make sure that the subject can see the screen projection clearly for stimulus presentation before sending him or her into the scanner. Now acquire a high resolution T one weighted structural image such as an SPGR or MP rage. Next, set up your functional runs to allow full brain coverage.In our initial studies using a four Tesla scanner, we acquired axial series of 30 functional slices with a four by four by four millimeter voxel size, using an inverse spiral pulse sequence with the following parameters, a TR of 2000 milliseconds, a TE of 31 milliseconds, and a field view of 256 by 256 millimeters. More recently, we also adapted the paradigm for a 1.5 Tesla scanner using the following parameters, 28 functional slices with a four by four by four millimeter voxel size acquired axially using an Echo Plano sequence and using a TR of 2000 milliseconds, a tea of 40 milliseconds and a field of view of 256 by 256 millimeters inform the subject that the functional imaging is about to begin and remind him or her of the tasks now start the scanner synchronously with the paradigm when scanning is complete, help the subject out of the scanner and perform a behavioral assessment to determine the participant's sensitivity to the distractors by rating the emotional intensity of the distractors and the subjectively perceived distractibility of the distractors. Individual differences in those ratings can be used to investigate their influence on the neural mechanisms, mediating the detrimental effect of emotion on cognition or to identify brain regions involved in coping with emotional distraction.Finally, be sure to thank the subject for participating in the experiment. Once collected, data can be analyzed using any FMRI processing software package, such as statistical parametric mapping, commonly known as SPM. Our lab uses this in combination with in-house MATLAB based tools.Pre-processing involves typical steps, quality assurance, image alignment, motion correction, co-registration, normalization, and spatial smoothing with an eight millimeter kernel. When using SPM, the general linear model is implemented to assess the fit of the recorded data from each condition of interest to a predetermined hemodynamic response function. Alternatively, the data from each condition can be selectively averaged to view the raw FMR signal associated with each condition with no predetermined assumptions about the shape of the hemodynamic response function.Contrasts of interest then reveal changes compared to pre stimulus, baseline, and differences between one condition when compared to another condition. With this experimental protocol, we suggest using analysis tools that allow assessments of changes in the FMR signal on a time point by time point basis, individual and group level Statistical analysis involve comparisons of brain activity according to the distractor type. Moreover, correlations of brain imaging data with subjective or objective measures of distractability and scores indexing.Personality measures can also be performed to investigate how brain activity covar with individual differences in those measures. Here we illustrate the basic procedure for identifying brain behavior relationships using across subject correlations between brain activity and subjective ratings of distractibility. First, individual scores of distractibility are calculated for each subject.Secondly, their correlations with changes in brain activity are calculated either on a voxel by voxel basis or with FMR signal extracted from specific regions of interest or ROIs. Third scattergrams of these correlations are then plotted analyses in all of our studies using this protocol have typically involved assessments of changes in the FMR signal observed during the delay interval when the distractors are presented, but activity time locked to other events such as the probes can also be investigated. Here we illustrate the main findings from our initial study using emotional and neutral distractors selected from the International Effective Picture System.The central panel shows activation maps of the direct contrast between the most versus the least distracting conditions superimposed on a high resolution brain image displayed in a lateral view of the right hemisphere. The focus is on activity recorded during the delay interval when the distractors were presented. Activity in the dorsal executive neural system is shown in blue, and activity in the ventral effective system is shown in red.The color horizontal bars at the bottom of the brain image indicate the gradient of T values of the activation maps. The lateral panels illustrate time courses of changes in brain activity during the working memory task with distraction with the upper panels showing activity in dorsal executive regions such as the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex and lateral parietal cortex, and the lower panels showing activity in regions of the ventral effective system such as the ventral lateral prefrontal cortex or region susceptible to effective modulation such as the fusiform gyrus. The time courses in blue represent the scrambled meaningless distractor while the time courses in red indicate the emotional distractor and the time courses in yellow represent the neutral distractor in the presence of meaningless distraction.Sustained activity occurred in regions of the dorsal executive system. The presence of emotional distraction increased activity in regions of the ventral effect system, while decreasing activity in the dorsal system and impairing working memory performance paralleling the behavioral impact, the presence of neutral distractors produced an intermediate level of activity in both systems. This dorso ventral dissociation has been systematically replicated and was shown to be specific to emotional distraction.This experimental paradigm also allows identification of brain regions involved in coping with emotional distraction. For instance, correlation analyses between activity in brain regions sensitive to the presence of emotional distraction identified areas in the ventral lateral prefrontal cortex whose activity correlated negatively with indices of emotional distractibility for the emotional, but not for the neutral distractors. Specifically, participants showing greater activity in this region also perceived and rated emotional distractors as less distracting.These findings provide evidence for a role of this region in coping with distracting emotions. After the development of this paradigm, it paved the way for researchers in the field of emotion and cognition interactions to study the neuro correlates of both responding to and coping with emotional distraction in both healthy and clinical populations. After watching this video, you should have a good understanding of how to use this protocol to investigate the neuro correlates of cognitive interference by emotional distraction and how to adapt it to your own experimental needs.

brain-imaging-investigation-impairing-effect-emotion-on

Research

JoVE Journal

Neuroscience

We present a protocol that allows investigation of the neural correlates of recollecting emotional autobiographical memories, using functional magnetic resonance imaging. This protocol can be used with both healthy and clinical participants.

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotional Autobiographical Recollection

We present a protocol that allows investigation of the neural correlates of deliberate and automatic emotion regulation, using functional magnetic resonance imaging. This protocol can be used in healthy participants, both young and older, as well as in clinical patients.

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotion Regulation

We present a protocol that uses functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the neural correlates of the memory-enhancing effect of emotion. This protocol allows identification of brain activity specifically linked to memory-related processing, contrary to more general perceptual processing, and can be used with healthy and clinical populations.

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Memory-Enhancing Effect of Emotion

The goal of our research is to correlate behavior to brain activity. Accurate behavioral measures and imaging techniques allow us to elucidate brain-behavior relationships.

Correlating Behavioral Responses to fMRI Signals from Human Prefrontal Cortex: Examining Cognitive Processes Using Task Analysis

The emotional Stroop effect (ESE) is the result of longer naming latencies to ink colors of emotion words than those of neutral words. This report refers to potential sources of confounding and includes a modal experiment that provides the means to control for them.

The Emotional Stroop Task: Assessing Cognitive Performance under Exposure to Emotional Content

This paper describes how to implement a battery of behavioral tasks to examine emotion recognition of isolated facial and vocal emotion expressions, and a novel task using commercial television and film clips to assess multimodal emotion recognition that includes contextual cues.

Exploring the Use of Isolated Expressions and Film Clips to Evaluate Emotion Recognition by People with Traumatic Brain Injury

We introduce a protocol for exploring the neural correlates of a cognitive emotion regulation task, namely cognitive reappraisal, using functional magnetic resonance imaging. This protocol was used in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder and healthy controls but can also be used in other clinical samples.

Exploring the Neural Correlates of Cognitive Reappraisal in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Using Task-based Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

This article demonstrates an experimental design in which whole-body animated characters are used in conjunction with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the neural correlates of observing virtual social interactions.

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Observing Virtual Social Interactions

Conventional computer hardware can not generate visual stimuli with sufficiently high grayscale resolution and measure response times with sufficient accuracy. We describe how to use the VideoSwitcher to produce high-resolution monochromatic displays, and the RTbox to measure response times with high accuracy on conventional computer hardware.

Enabling High Grayscale Resolution Displays and Accurate Response Time Measurements on Conventional Computers

We describe a novel approach for simultaneous analysis of brain function and structure using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We assess brain structure with high-resolution diffusion-weighted imaging and white-matter fiber tractography. Unlike standard structural MRI, these techniques allow us to directly relate anatomical connectivity to functional properties of brain networks.

Co-analysis of Brain Structure and Function using fMRI and Diffusion-weighted Imaging

Explore how emotional distractions impair working memory using fMRI to record brain activity during cognitive tasks. This protocol identifies neural correlates of emotion-cognition interference in healthy and clinical populations.

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition

Explore More Videos