TY - GEN A1 - Weymar, Mathias A1 - Ventura-Bort, Carlos A1 - Wendt, Julia A1 - Lischke, Alexander T1 - Behavioral and neural evidence of enhanced long-term memory for untrustworthy faces T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - In daily life, we automatically form impressions of other individuals on basis of subtle facial features that convey trustworthiness. Because these face-based judgements influence current and future social interactions, we investigated how perceived trustworthiness of faces affects long-term memory using event-related potentials (ERPs). In the current study, participants incidentally viewed 60 neutral faces differing in trustworthiness, and one week later, performed a surprise recognition memory task, in which the same old faces were presented intermixed with novel ones. We found that after one week untrustworthy faces were better recognized than trustworthy faces and that untrustworthy faces prompted early (350–550 ms) enhanced frontal ERP old/new differences (larger positivity for correctly remembered old faces, compared to novel ones) during recognition. Our findings point toward an enhanced long-lasting, likely familiarity-based, memory for untrustworthy faces. Even when trust judgments about a person do not necessarily need to be accurate, a fast access to memories predicting potential harm may be important to guide social behaviour in daily life. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 594 KW - Recognition Memory KW - Facial Expressions KW - Trustworthiness KW - Recollection KW - Amygdala KW - Metaanalysis KW - Information KW - Appearance KW - Perception KW - Trust Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-442925 SN - 1866-8364 IS - 594 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Weymar, Mathias A1 - Ventura-Bort, Carlos A1 - Wendt, Julia A1 - Lischke, Alexander T1 - Behavioral and neural evidence of enhanced long-term memory for untrustworthy faces JF - Scientific Reports N2 - In daily life, we automatically form impressions of other individuals on basis of subtle facial features that convey trustworthiness. Because these face-based judgements influence current and future social interactions, we investigated how perceived trustworthiness of faces affects long-term memory using event-related potentials (ERPs). In the current study, participants incidentally viewed 60 neutral faces differing in trustworthiness, and one week later, performed a surprise recognition memory task, in which the same old faces were presented intermixed with novel ones. We found that after one week untrustworthy faces were better recognized than trustworthy faces and that untrustworthy faces prompted early (350–550 ms) enhanced frontal ERP old/new differences (larger positivity for correctly remembered old faces, compared to novel ones) during recognition. Our findings point toward an enhanced long-lasting, likely familiarity-based, memory for untrustworthy faces. Even when trust judgments about a person do not necessarily need to be accurate, a fast access to memories predicting potential harm may be important to guide social behaviour in daily life. KW - Recognition Memory KW - Facial Expressions KW - Trustworthiness KW - Recollection KW - Amygdala KW - Metaanalysis KW - Information KW - Appearance KW - Perception KW - Trust Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-55705-7 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 9 PB - Macmillan Publishers Limited CY - London ER - TY - GEN A1 - König, Julian A1 - Weymar, Mathias A1 - Friedman, Bruce T1 - Beyond Observation: Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Psychophysiological Research T2 - Psychophysiology : journal of the Society for Psychophysiological Research Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13439 SN - 0048-5772 SN - 1469-8986 VL - 56 SP - S11 EP - S11 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wirkner, Janine A1 - Ventura-Bort, Carlos A1 - Schwabe, Lars A1 - Hamm, Alfons O. A1 - Weymar, Mathias T1 - Chronic stress and emotion: Differential effects on attentional processing and recognition memory JF - Psychoneuroendocrinology N2 - Previous research indicates that acute stress around the time of learning facilitates attention and memory for emotionally salient information. Despite accumulating evidence for these acute stress effects, less is known about the role of chronic stress. In the present study, we therefore tested emotional and neutral scene processing and later recognition memory in female participants using hair cortisol concentrations as a biological marker for chronic stress. Event-related potentials recorded during picture viewing indicated enhanced late positive potentials (LPPs) for emotional, relative to neutral contents. These brain potentials varied as a function of long-term hair cortisol levels: hair-cortisol levels were positively related to overall LPP amplitudes. Results from recognition memory testing one week after encoding revealed better memory for emotional relative to neutral scenes. Hair-cortisol levels, however, were related to poorer memory accuracy. Taken together, our results indicate that chronic stress enhanced attentional processing during encoding of new stimuli and impaired later recognition memory. Results are discussed with regard to putatively opposite effects of chronic stress on certain brain regions (e.g., amygdala and hippocampus). KW - Chronic stress KW - Emotion KW - Event-related potential KW - Late positive potential KW - Memory KW - Hair cortisol Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.05.008 SN - 0306-4530 VL - 107 SP - 93 EP - 97 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - GEN A1 - Weymar, Mathias A1 - Ventura-Bort, Carlos A1 - Wirkner, Janine A1 - Genheimer, Hannah A1 - Wendt, Julia A1 - Hamm, Alfons O. T1 - Effects of Transcutaneous Vagus Vagus Nerve Stimulation (TVNS) on selective attentions and emotional episodic memory : findings from ERP research T2 - Psychophysiology : journal of the Society for Psychophysiological Research N2 - Recent research indicates that non- invasive stimulation of the afferent auricular vagal nerve (tVNS) may modulate various cognitive and affec-tive functions, likely via activation of the locus coeruleus- norepinephrine (LC- NE) system. In a series of ERP studies we found that the attention- related P300 component is enhanced during continuous vagal stimula-tion, compared to sham, which is also related to increased salivary alpha amylase levels (a putative indirect marker for central NE activation). In another study, we investigated the effect of continuous tVNS on the late positive potential (LPP), an electrophysiological index for motivated atten-tion toward emotionally evocative cues, and the effects of tVNS on later recognition memory (1- week delay). Here, vagal stimulation prompted earlier LPP differences (300- 500 ms) between unpleasant and neutral scenes. During retrieval, vagal stimulation significantly improved memory performance for unpleasant, but not neutral pictures, compared to sham stimulation, which was also related to enhanced salivary alpha amylase levels. In line, unpleasant images encoded under tVNS compared to sham stimulation also produced enhanced ERP old/new differences (500- 800 ms) during retrieval indicating better recollection. Taken together, our studies suggest that tVNS facilitates attention, learning and episodic memory, likely via afferent projections to the arousal- modulated LC- NE system. We will, however, also show data that point to critical stimulation parameters (likely duration and frequency) that need to be considered when applying tVNS Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13501 SN - 0048-5772 SN - 1469-8986 VL - 56 SP - S12 EP - S12 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ventura-Bort, Carlos A1 - Wirkner, Janine A1 - Dolcos, Florin A1 - Wendt, Julia A1 - Hamm, Alfons O. A1 - Weymar, Mathias T1 - Enhanced spontaneous retrieval of cues from emotional events: an ERP study JF - Biological psychology N2 - Recent evidence points to enhanced episodic memory retrieval not only for emotional items but also for neutral information encoded in emotional contexts. However, prior research only tested instructed explicit recognition, and hence here we investigated whether memory retrieval is also heightened for cues from emotional contexts when retrieval is not explicitly probed. During the first session of a two-session experiment, neutral objects were presented on different background scenes varying in emotional and neutral contents. One week later, objects were presented again (with no background) intermixed with novel objects. In both sessions, participants were instructed to attentively watch the stimuli (free viewing procedure), and during the second session, ERPs were also collected to measure the ERP Old/New effect, an electrophysiological correlate of episodic memory retrieval. Analyses were performed using cluster-based permutation tests in order to identify reliable spatiotemporal ERP differences. Based on this approach, old relative to new objects, were associated with larger ERP positivity in an early (364-744 ms) and late time window (760-1148 ms) over distinct central electrode clusters. Interestingly, significant late ERP Old/New differences were only observed for objects previously encoded with emotional, but not neutral scenes (504 to 1144 ms). Because these ERP differences were observed in a non-instructed retrieval context, our results indicate that long-term, spontaneous retrieval for neutral objects, is particularly heightened if encoded within emotionally salient contextual information. These findings may assist in understanding mechanisms underlying spontaneous retrieval of emotional associates and the utility of ERPs to study maladaptive involuntary memories in trauma- and stress-related disorders. KW - Event-related potentials KW - ERP KW - Emotion KW - Retrieval KW - Spontaneous memory KW - Old/New effect Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2019.107742 SN - 0301-0511 SN - 1873-6246 VL - 148 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schinköth, Michaela A1 - Weymar, Mathias A1 - Brand, Ralf T1 - Listening to the heart BT - Getting closer to the somatic core of affective valuation of exercise through heart rate variability analysis JF - Psychology of sport and exercise N2 - Objective: The affective-reflective theory of physical inactivity and exercise suggests that the mere thought of exercise can lead to an immediate somato-affective response which, if negative, will drive a physically inactive person to maintain his or her current exercise-avoidant behavior. This study aimed to test the assumption that the somatic core of this affective response can be identified by means of heart rate variability (HRV) analysis. Design: This study followed a within-subject experimental design. Method. Participants were 91 adult men and women whose HR and HRV were monitored whilst they viewed exercise-related and control pictures in a laboratory setting. Results: Analyses revealed a decrease in HRV during the viewing of exercise-related pictures in less physically active participants. These participants reported that the same pictures elicited feelings with relatively low affective valence and arousal. There were no changes in HR. KW - Dual-process KW - Motivation KW - Valence KW - Arousal KW - Psychophysiology KW - Self-assessment manikin (SAM) Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2019.101541 SN - 1469-0292 SN - 1878-5476 VL - 45 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - GEN A1 - Dolcos, Florin A1 - Katsumi, Yuta A1 - Moore, Matthew A1 - Berggren, Nick A1 - de Gelder, Beatrice A1 - Derakshan, Nazanin A1 - Hamm, Alfons O. A1 - Koster, Ernst H. W. A1 - Ladouceur, Cecile D. A1 - Okon-Singer, Hadas A1 - Ventura-Bort, Carlos A1 - Weymar, Mathias T1 - Neural correlates of emotion-attention interactions BT - From perception, learning, and memory to social cognition, individual differences, and training interventions T2 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Due to their ability to capture attention, emotional stimuli tend to benefit from enhanced perceptual processing, which can be helpful when such stimuli are task-relevant but hindering when they are task-irrelevant. Altered emotion-attention interactions have been associated with symptoms of affective disturbances, and emerging research focuses on improving emotion-attention interactions to prevent or treat affective disorders. In line with the Human Affectome Project's emphasis on linguistic components, we also analyzed the language used to describe attention-related aspects of emotion, and highlighted terms related to domains such as conscious awareness, motivational effects of attention, social attention, and emotion regulation. These terms were discussed within a broader review of available evidence regarding the neural correlates of (1) Emotion-Attention Interactions in Perception, (2) Emotion-Attention Interactions in Learning and Memory, (3) Individual Differences in Emotion-Attention Interactions, and (4) Training and Interventions to Optimize Emotion-Attention Interactions. This comprehensive approach enabled an integrative overview of the current knowledge regarding the mechanisms of emotion-attention interactions at multiple levels of analysis, and identification of emerging directions for future investigations. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 862 KW - emotion KW - attention KW - perception KW - learning and memory KW - individual differences KW - training interventions KW - psychophysiology KW - neuroimaging KW - affective neuroscience KW - health and well-being KW - linguistics Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-516213 SN - 1866-8364 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dolcos, Florin A1 - Katsumi, Yuta A1 - Moore, Matthew A1 - Berggren, Nick A1 - de Gelder, Beatrice A1 - Derakshan, Nazanin A1 - Hamm, Alfons O. A1 - Koster, Ernst H. W. A1 - Ladouceur, Cecile D. A1 - Okon-Singer, Hadas A1 - Ventura-Bort, Carlos A1 - Weymar, Mathias T1 - Neural correlates of emotion-attention interactions BT - From perception, learning, and memory to social cognition, individual differences, and training interventions JF - Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews N2 - Due to their ability to capture attention, emotional stimuli tend to benefit from enhanced perceptual processing, which can be helpful when such stimuli are task-relevant but hindering when they are task-irrelevant. Altered emotion-attention interactions have been associated with symptoms of affective disturbances, and emerging research focuses on improving emotion-attention interactions to prevent or treat affective disorders. In line with the Human Affectome Project's emphasis on linguistic components, we also analyzed the language used to describe attention-related aspects of emotion, and highlighted terms related to domains such as conscious awareness, motivational effects of attention, social attention, and emotion regulation. These terms were discussed within a broader review of available evidence regarding the neural correlates of (1) Emotion-Attention Interactions in Perception, (2) Emotion-Attention Interactions in Learning and Memory, (3) Individual Differences in Emotion-Attention Interactions, and (4) Training and Interventions to Optimize Emotion-Attention Interactions. This comprehensive approach enabled an integrative overview of the current knowledge regarding the mechanisms of emotion-attention interactions at multiple levels of analysis, and identification of emerging directions for future investigations. KW - emotion KW - attention KW - perception KW - learning and memory KW - individual differences KW - training interventions KW - psychophysiology KW - neuroimaging KW - affective neuroscience KW - health and well-being KW - linguistics Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.08.017 SN - 0149-7634 SN - 1873-7528 VL - 108 SP - 559 EP - 601 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pahnke, Rike A1 - Mau-Möller, Anett A1 - Junge, Martin A1 - Wendt, Julia A1 - Weymar, Mathias A1 - Hamm, Alfons O. A1 - Lischke, Alexander T1 - Oral Contraceptives Impair Complex Emotion Recognition in Healthy Women JF - Frontiers in neuroscience N2 - Despite the widespread use of oral contraceptives (OCs), remarkably little is known about the effects of OCs on emotion, cognition, and behavior. However, coincidental findings suggest that OCs impair the ability to recognize others’ emotional expressions, which may have serious consequences in interpersonal contexts. To further investigate the effects of OCs on emotion recognition, we tested whether women who were using OCs (n = 42) would be less accurate in the recognition of complex emotional expressions than women who were not using OCs (n = 53). In addition, we explored whether these differences in emotion recognition would depend on women’s menstrual cycle phase. We found that women with OC use were indeed less accurate in the recognition of complex expressions than women without OC use, in particular during the processing of expressions that were difficult to recognize. These differences in emotion recognition did not depend on women’s menstrual cycle phase. Our findings, thus, suggest that OCs impair women’s emotion recognition, which should be taken into account when informing women about the side-effects of OC use. KW - oral contraceptives KW - menstrual cycle KW - estrogen KW - progesterone KW - emotion recognition KW - social cognition Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2018.01041 SN - 1662-453X VL - 12 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER -