@article{SegeBradleyWeymaretal.2017, author = {Sege, Christopher T. and Bradley, Margaret M. and Weymar, Mathias and Lang, Peter J.}, title = {A direct comparison of appetitive and aversive anticipation}, series = {Behavioural brain research : an international journal}, volume = {326}, journal = {Behavioural brain research : an international journal}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0166-4328}, doi = {10.1016/j.bbr.2017.03.005}, pages = {96 -- 102}, year = {2017}, abstract = {fMRI studies of reward find increased neural activity in ventral striatum and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), whereas other regions, including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (d1PFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and anterior insula, are activated when anticipating aversive exposure. Although these data suggest differential activation during anticipation of pleasant or of unpleasant exposure, they also arise in the context of different paradigms (e.g., preparation for reward vs. threat of shock) and participants. To determine overlapping and unique regions active during emotional anticipation, we compared neural activity during anticipation of pleasant or unpleasant exposure in the same participants. Cues signalled the upcoming presentation of erotic/romantic, violent, or everyday pictures while BOLD activity during the 9-s anticipatory period was measured using fMRI. Ventral striatum and a ventral mPFC subregion were activated when anticipating pleasant, but not unpleasant or neutral, pictures, whereas activation in other regions was enhanced when anticipating appetitive or aversive scenes.}, language = {en} } @misc{DolcosKatsumiWeymaretal.2017, author = {Dolcos, Florin and Katsumi, Yuta and Weymar, Mathias and Moore, Matthew and Tsukiura, Takashi and Dolcos, Sanda}, title = {Emerging Directions in Emotional Episodic Memory}, series = {Frontiers in psychology}, volume = {8}, journal = {Frontiers in psychology}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {1664-1078}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01867}, pages = {R1277 -- R1280}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Building upon the existing literature on emotional memory, the present review examines emerging evidence from brain imaging investigations regarding four research directions: (1) Social Emotional Memory, (2) The Role of Emotion Regulation in the Impact of Emotion on Memory, (3) The Impact of Emotion on Associative or Relational Memory, and (4) The Role of Individual Differences in Emotional Memory. Across these four domains, available evidence demonstrates that emotion-and memory-related medial temporal lobe brain regions (amygdala and hippocampus, respectively), together with prefrontal cortical regions, play a pivotal role during both encoding and retrieval of emotional episodic memories. This evidence sheds light on the neural mechanisms of emotional memories in healthy functioning, and has important implications for understanding clinical conditions that are associated with negative affective biases in encoding and retrieving emotional memories.}, language = {en} } @misc{WeymarVenturaBortGenheimeretal.2017, author = {Weymar, Mathias and Ventura-Bort, Carlos and Genheimer, Hannah and Wirkner, Janine and Wendt, Julia and Hamm, Alfons O.}, title = {THE P300 AND THE LC-NE SYSTEM: NEW INSIGHTS FROM TRANSCUTANEOUS VAGUS NERVE STIMULATION (TVNS)}, series = {Psychophysiology : journal of the Society for Psychophysiological Research}, volume = {54}, journal = {Psychophysiology : journal of the Society for Psychophysiological Research}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {0048-5772}, pages = {S145 -- S145}, year = {2017}, language = {en} } @misc{BortHammWeymar2017, author = {Bort, Carlos Ventura and Hamm, Alfons O. and Weymar, Mathias}, title = {ENHANCED VOLUNTARY AND SPONTANEOUS MEMORY RETRIEVAL OF EMOTIONAL ASSOCIATES: AN ERP STUDY}, series = {Psychophysiology : journal of the Society for Psychophysiological Research}, volume = {54}, journal = {Psychophysiology : journal of the Society for Psychophysiological Research}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {0048-5772}, pages = {S129 -- S129}, year = {2017}, language = {en} } @article{WirknerWeymarLoewetal.2017, author = {Wirkner, Janine and Weymar, Mathias and Loew, Andreas and Hamm, Carmen and Struck, Anne-Marie and Kirschbaum, Clemens and Hamm, Alfons O.}, title = {Cognitive functioning and emotion processing in breast cancer survivors and controls: An ERP pilot study}, series = {Psychophysiology : journal of the Society for Psychophysiological Research}, volume = {54}, journal = {Psychophysiology : journal of the Society for Psychophysiological Research}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {0048-5772}, doi = {10.1111/psyp.12874}, pages = {1209 -- 1222}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer is a very emotionally aversive and stressful life event, which can lead to impaired cognitive functioning and mental health. Breast cancer survivors responding with repressive emotion regulation strategies often show less adaptive coping and adverse outcomes. We investigated cognitive functioning and neural correlates of emotion processing using ERPs. Self-report measures of depression, anxiety, and fatigue, as well as hair cortisol as an index of chronic stress, were assessed. Twenty breast cancer survivors (BCS) and 31 carefully matched healthy controls participated in the study. After neuropsychological testing and subjective assessments, participants viewed 30 neutral, 30 unpleasant, and 30 pleasant pictures, and ERPs were recorded. Recognition memory was tested 1 week later. BCS reported stronger complaints about cognitive impairments and more symptoms of depression, anxiety, and fatigue. Moreover, they showed elevated hair cortisol levels. Except for verbal memory, cognitive functioning was predominantly in the normative range. Recognition memory performance was decreased in cancer survivors, especially for emotional contents. In ERPs, survivors showed smaller late positive potential amplitudes for unpleasant pictures relative to controls in a later time window, which may indicate less elaborative processing of this material. Taken together, we found cognitive impairments in BCS in verbal memory, impaired emotional picture memory accuracy, and reduced neural activity when breast cancer survivors were confronted with unpleasant materials. Further studies and larger sample sizes, however, are needed to evaluate the relationship between altered emotion processing and reduced memory in BCS in order to develop new treatment strategies.}, language = {en} } @article{WendtLoewWeymaretal.2017, author = {Wendt, Julia and Loew, Andreas and Weymar, Mathias and Lotze, Martin and Hamm, Alfons O.}, title = {Active avoidance and attentive freezing in the face of approaching threat}, series = {NeuroImage : a journal of brain function}, volume = {158}, journal = {NeuroImage : a journal of brain function}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {San Diego}, issn = {1053-8119}, doi = {10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.06.054}, pages = {196 -- 204}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Defensive behaviors in animals and humans vary dynamically with increasing proximity of a threat and depending upon the behavioral repertoire at hand. The current study investigated physiological and behavioral adjustments and associated brain activation when participants were exposed to dynamically approaching threat that was either inevitable or could be avoided by motor action. When the approaching threat was inevitable, attentive freezing was observed as indicated by fear bradycardia, startle potentiation, and a dynamic increase in activation of the anterior insula and the periaqueductal grey. In preparation for active avoidance a switch in defensive behavior was observed characterized by startle inhibition and heart rate acceleration along with potentiated activation of the amygdala and the periaqueductal grey. Importantly, the modulation of defensive behavior according to threat imminence and the behavioral option at hand was associated with activity changes in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. These findings improve our understanding of brain mechanisms guiding human behavior during approaching threat depending on available resources.}, language = {en} } @misc{WirknerLowStrucketal.2017, author = {Wirkner, Janine and Low, Andreas and Struck, Anne-Marie and Hamm, Alfons O. and Weymar, Mathias}, title = {DOES AGE INFLUENCE BRAIN POTENTIALS DURING AFFECTIVE PICTURE PROCESSING IN MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN?}, series = {Psychophysiology : journal of the Society for Psychophysiological Research}, volume = {54}, journal = {Psychophysiology : journal of the Society for Psychophysiological Research}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {0048-5772}, pages = {S40 -- S40}, year = {2017}, language = {en} } @article{VenturaBortDolcosWendtetal.2017, author = {Ventura-Bort, Carlos and Dolcos, Florin and Wendt, Julia and Wirkner, Janine and Hamm, Alfons O. and Weymar, Mathias}, title = {Item and source memory for emotional associates is mediated by different retrieval processes}, series = {Neuropsychologia : an international journal in behavioural and cognitive neuroscience}, volume = {145}, journal = {Neuropsychologia : an international journal in behavioural and cognitive neuroscience}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Oxford}, issn = {0028-3932}, doi = {10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.12.015}, pages = {11}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Recent event-related potential (ERP) data showed that neutral objects encoded in emotional background pictures were better remembered than objects encoded in neutral contexts, when recognition memory was tested one week later. In the present study, we investigated whether this long-term memory advantage for items is also associated with correct memory for contextual source details. Furthermore, we were interested in the possibly dissociable contribution of familiarity and recollection processes (using a Remember/Know procedure). The results revealed that item memory performance was mainly driven by the subjective experience of familiarity, irrespective of whether the objects were previously encoded in emotional or neutral contexts. Correct source memory for the associated background picture, however, was driven by recollection and enhanced when the content was emotional. In ERPs, correctly recognized old objects evoked frontal ERP Old/New effects (300-500 ms), irrespective of context category. As in our previous study (Ventura-Bort et al., 2016b), retrieval for objects from emotional contexts was associated with larger parietal Old/New differences (600-800 ms), indicating stronger involvement of recollection. Thus, the results suggest a stronger contribution of recollection-based retrieval to item and contextual background source memory for neutral information associated with an emotional event.}, language = {en} }