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Anger in brain and body: the neural and physiological perturbation of decision-making by emotion
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 22:16 authored by Sarah Garfinkel, Emma Zorab, Nakulan Navaratnam, Miriam Engels, Núria Mallorquí-Bagué, Ludovico Minati, Nicholas DowellNicholas Dowell, Jos F Brosschot, Julian F Thayer, Hugo CritchleyHugo CritchleyEmotion and cognition are dynamically coupled to bodily arousal: The induction of anger, even unconsciously, can reprioritise neural and physiological resources toward action states that bias cognitive processes. Here we examine behavioural, neural and bodily effects of covert anger processing and its influence on cognition, indexed by lexical decision-making. While recording beat-to-beat blood pressure, the words ANGER or RELAX were presented subliminally just prior to rapid word/non-word reaction-time judgements of letter-strings. Subliminal ANGER primes delayed the time taken to reach rapid lexical decisions, relative to RELAX primes. However, individuals with high trait anger were speeded up by subliminal anger primes. ANGER primes increased systolic blood pressure and the magnitude of this increase predicted reaction time prolongation. Within the brain, ANGER trials evoked an enhancement of activity within dorsal pons and an attenuation of activity within visual occipitotemporal and attentional parietal cortices. Activity within periaqueductal grey matter, occipital and parietal regions increased linearly with evoked blood pressure changes, indicating neural substrates through which covert anger impairs semantic decisions, putatively through its expression as visceral arousal. The behavioural and physiological impact of anger states compromises the efficiency of cognitive processing through action-ready changes in autonomic response that skew regional neural activity.
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Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Published version
Journal
Social Cognitive and Affective NeuroscienceISSN
1749-5016Publisher
Oxford University PressExternal DOI
Issue
1Volume
11Page range
150-158Department affiliated with
- Clinical and Experimental Medicine Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2015-09-15First Open Access (FOA) Date
2019-07-30First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2019-07-30Usage metrics
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