Eye Fixation-Related Potentials during Visual Search on Acquaintance and Newly-Learned Faces

Searching familiar faces in the crowd may involve stimulus-driven attention by emotional significance, together with goal-directed attention due to task-relevant needs. The present study investigated the effect of familiarity on attentional processes by exploring eye fixation-related potentials (EFRPs) and eye gazes when humans searched for, among other distracting faces, either an acquaintance’s face or a newly-learned face. Task performance and gaze behavior were indistinguishable for identifying either faces. However, from the EFRP analysis, after a P300 component for successful search of target faces, we found greater deflections of right parietal late positive potentials in response to newly-learned faces than acquaintance’s faces, indicating more involvement of goal-directed attention in processing newly-learned faces. In addition, we found greater occipital negativity elicited by acquaintance’s faces, reflecting emotional responses to significant stimuli. These results may suggest that finding a familiar face in the crowd would involve lower goal-directed attention and elicit more emotional responses.

Observing dyspnoea in others elicits dyspnoea, negative affect and brain responses

Dyspnoea is usually caused by diagnosable cardiorespiratory mechanisms. However, frequently dyspnoea relates only weakly or not at all to cardiorespiratory functioning, suggesting that additional neuropsychosocial processes contribute to its experience. We tested whether the mere observation of dyspnoea in others constitutes such a process and would elicit dyspnoea, negative affect and increased brain responses in the observer.In three studies, series of pictures and videos were presented, which either depicted persons suffering from dyspnoea or nondyspnoeic control stimuli. Self-reports of dyspnoea and affective state were obtained in all studies. Additionally, respiratory variables and brain responses during picture viewing (late positive potentials in electroencephalograms) were measured in one study.In all studies, dyspnoea-related pictures and videos elicited mild-to-moderate dyspnoea and increased negative affect compared to control stimuli. This was paralleled by increased late positive potentials for dyspnoea-related pictures while respiratory variables did not change. Moreover, increased dyspnoea correlated modestly with higher levels of empathy in observers.The present results demonstrate that observing dyspnoea in others elicits mild-to-moderate dyspnoea, negative affect, and increased brain responses in the absence of respiratory changes. This vicarious dyspnoea has clinical relevance, as it might increase suffering in the family and medical caregivers of dyspnoeic patients.

A systematic review of cognitive and neurobiologic factors associated with specific phobias

Summary Background: To clarify the role of cognitive and neurobiologic factors in the aetiopathogenesis of specific phobia, a systematic review of studies investigating these factors was performed. MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central were searched up to March 23, 2012. Method: Thirty-four studies were analyzed in detail for this systematic review. Results: Persons with specific phobia differed from healthy persons in their reaction to the exposure to phobia-related stimuli due to biased attentional, memory and interpretational processes. Longer reaction times, increased recall and recognition performances for threat-related information, and a tendency to misinterpret ambiguous stimuli were found in persons with specific phobia. Regarding brain activity measures as indicators of neurobiologic factors following exposure to fear-related stimuli, amygdala, anterior cingulated cortex, insula, fusiform gyrus, and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex activities were most commonly reported to be increased in persons with specific phobia. Other studies revealed increased amplitudes of event-related potentials (N100, P300, and late positive potentials) in persons with specific phobia.