<p>Preferential processing favouring threatening information has received increased attention because cognitive formulations have placed increased emphasis on its role as a key cognitive factor underlying vulnerability to and maintenance of anxiety disorders. The present dissertation comprises four empirical studies within the area of preferential processing. Two different outcome measures were used to index preferential processing of threat-related information: Skin conductance responses (SCRs) were used in Studies I, II, and III. The emotional Stroop task was used in Study IV. The main focus has been on preferential processing of threat-related information that occurs outside awareness, thus <i>preferential preattentive processing</i>. Study I investigated the role of traumatic combat experience with regard to preferential processing among UN soldiers following a presentation of threat-related pictures. Results indicated that soldiers with combat experience consistently reacted with lower SCRs compared to soldiers without combat experience. One issue addressed in the individual studies was the association between preferential preattentive processing and trait anxiety. Studies II, III, and IV showed that elevated levels of trait anxiety promote preferential preattentive processing of negatively valenced information, whereas elevated levels of social desirability generally prevent preferential preattentive processing of negatively valenced information. Study II highlighted the importance of including the social desirability factor when studying effects of trait anxiety on preferential processing. In addition, Studies III and IV explored the relationship between preferential processing and emotional vulnerability. The main findings support the notion of preferential preattentive processing of threat representing an underlying predisposition to heightened emotional vulnerability in response to stressful events.</p>

Preferential processing favouring threatening information has received increased attention because cognitive formulations have placed increased emphasis on its role as a key cognitive factor underlying vulnerability to and maintenance of anxiety disorders. The present dissertation comprises four empirical studies within the area of preferential processing. Two different outcome measures were used to index preferential processing of threat-related information: Skin conductance responses (SCRs) were used in Studies I, II, and III. The emotional Stroop task was used in Study IV. The main focus has been on preferential processing of threat-related information that occurs outside awareness, thus preferential preattentive processing. Study I investigated the role of traumatic combat experience with regard to preferential processing among UN soldiers following a presentation of threat-related pictures. Results indicated that soldiers with combat experience consistently reacted with lower SCRs compared to soldiers without combat experience. One issue addressed in the individual studies was the association between preferential preattentive processing and trait anxiety. Studies II, III, and IV showed that elevated levels of trait anxiety promote preferential preattentive processing of negatively valenced information, whereas elevated levels of social desirability generally prevent preferential preattentive processing of negatively valenced information. Study II highlighted the importance of including the social desirability factor when studying effects of trait anxiety on preferential processing. In addition, Studies III and IV explored the relationship between preferential processing and emotional vulnerability. The main findings support the notion of preferential preattentive processing of threat representing an underlying predisposition to heightened emotional vulnerability in response to stressful events.

<p>One major focus of anxiety research in recent years has been the identification of cognitive factors that promote increased vulnerability to anxiety. Cognitive formulations propose that anxiety is characterised by an increased tendency to attend to negatively valenced emotional information, and that this bias may play a causal role in the development and maintenance of clinical anxiety. Evidence suggests that this anxiety-linked processing bias occurs even in conditions in which the stimuli are masked in order to prevent awareness of the content (i.e., <i>preattentive bias</i>). The present thesis focused principally on the preferential processing of threat-related information that occurs outside awareness. Two different outcome measures were used to index preferential preattentive processing of threat-related information in non-clinical populations: The emotional Stroop task was used to index <i>selective attention</i> to masked presentation of threatening word stimuli, whereas skin conductance responses were used to index <i>selective autonomic responses</i> to masked presentation of threatening pictorial stimuli. The empirical studies in the present thesis showed that elevated levels of trait anxiety promote preferential preattentive processing of negatively valenced information, whereas elevated levels of social desirability (interpreted as defensiveness) generally prevent preferential preattentive processing of negatively valenced information, especially among those at higher levels of trait anxiety, irrespective of outcome measure used. Moreover, previous research has demonstrated that a person’s most common emotional reaction when encountering a stressful event is causally influenced by that person’s habitual tendency to selectively encode the most threatening aspects of all available information. Thus, preattentive bias (as measured with the emotional Stroop task) was used to predict the emotional responses (as seen on self-reported emotional distress and autonomic reactivity) following exposure to a laboratory stressor. This study showed that preattentive bias to negative information had significant effects on both self-reported and physiological measures in response to a laboratory stressor, but in diametrically opposite directions. Specifically, whereas preattentive bias was positively associated with self-reported negative emotional response, it was negatively associated with a physiological indicator of emotional response. The results were discussed in terms of an inability to automatically inhibit the processing of threatening cues, which seems to be a vulnerability marker for anxiety. Whether this bias is ultimately sufficient for the development of clinical anxiety remains to be examined in future research. Additionally, more information is needed before it can be established that the emotional Stroop task can be viewed as a reliable diagnostic tool for determining an individual’s anxiety status.</p>

One major focus of anxiety research in recent years has been the identification of cognitive factors that promote increased vulnerability to anxiety. Cognitive formulations propose that anxiety is characterised by an increased tendency to attend to negatively valenced emotional information, and that this bias may play a causal role in the development and maintenance of clinical anxiety. Evidence suggests that this anxiety-linked processing bias occurs even in conditions in which the stimuli are masked in order to prevent awareness of the content (i.e., preattentive bias). The present thesis focused principally on the preferential processing of threat-related information that occurs outside awareness. Two different outcome measures were used to index preferential preattentive processing of threat-related information in non-clinical populations: The emotional Stroop task was used to index selective attention to masked presentation of threatening word stimuli, whereas skin conductance responses were used to index selective autonomic responses to masked presentation of threatening pictorial stimuli. The empirical studies in the present thesis showed that elevated levels of trait anxiety promote preferential preattentive processing of negatively valenced information, whereas elevated levels of social desirability (interpreted as defensiveness) generally prevent preferential preattentive processing of negatively valenced information, especially among those at higher levels of trait anxiety, irrespective of outcome measure used. Moreover, previous research has demonstrated that a person’s most common emotional reaction when encountering a stressful event is causally influenced by that person’s habitual tendency to selectively encode the most threatening aspects of all available information. Thus, preattentive bias (as measured with the emotional Stroop task) was used to predict the emotional responses (as seen on self-reported emotional distress and autonomic reactivity) following exposure to a laboratory stressor. This study showed that preattentive bias to negative information had significant effects on both self-reported and physiological measures in response to a laboratory stressor, but in diametrically opposite directions. Specifically, whereas preattentive bias was positively associated with self-reported negative emotional response, it was negatively associated with a physiological indicator of emotional response. The results were discussed in terms of an inability to automatically inhibit the processing of threatening cues, which seems to be a vulnerability marker for anxiety. Whether this bias is ultimately sufficient for the development of clinical anxiety remains to be examined in future research. Additionally, more information is needed before it can be established that the emotional Stroop task can be viewed as a reliable diagnostic tool for determining an individual’s anxiety status.

Finding if color has an effect on depth perception in virtual reality (VR) is important, as it could be important for e.g. surgeons to perceive the depth correctly if they were to be trained in VR environments as a preparation for surgeries on real patients. If color has an effect on perceived depth in VR then producers of these simulations have to take their color choices into account when creating simulations. Previous research has shown that luminosity and hue can have effects on depth perception. It is also perceived that depth underestimation is prevalent in VR. Discerning if either the color of the focal object or the background is affecting the depth perception is important. Therefore finding what effect different color attributes of a focal object and background has on the depth perception in a VR environment is important. This experimental study examined this through a case study performed in a VR environment built in Unity. The tests were set up to emulate the piercing of a catheter into a plane, where the user pressed a button the moment the plane was pierced. To test different colors of the focal object, in this case a plane, the background was assigned neutral colors (white or black) and while testing the background the plane had a neutral color (white). Results from the study show that colors have a small effect, namely up to 13.2 mm error (for the yellow hue with high luminosity and high saturation), on users’ depth perception in VR. No single attribute was better than another but on the object, blue hue gave the largest error while red hue gave the smallest error. For the background, there was more variation on the data but green and blue hue gave the smallest errors and red and yellow the largest. In sum, color has differing effects on depth perception in VR depending on if the color is applied to a background or an object. Red color gave the most accurate depth perception when applied to the object. For color applied to the background, green hue with high luminosity and blue hue with low luminosity resulted in the most accurate depth perception. / Att ta reda på om färg har en påverkan på djupseende i virtuell verklighet (VR) är viktigt, eftersom det skulle vara viktigt för t.ex. kirurger att uppfatta djupet korrekt om de skulle bli tränade i VR miljöer som en förberedelse inför operationer på riktiga patienter. Om färg har en effekt på upplevd djup i VR, då måste tillverkarna av dessa simulationer ha deras färgval i åtanke när de skapar simulatorerna. Tidigare forskning har visat att ljusintensitet och kulörton kan ha en effekt på djupseende. Det har också upptäckts att djupunderskattning är allmänt förekommande i VR. Att urskilja om antingen färgen på fokusobjektet eller på bakgrunden påverkar djupseendet är viktigt. Således att hitta vilken effekt olika färg attribut av ett fokusobjekt och bakgrund har på djupseendet i en VR miljö. Studien undersökte detta genom en fallstudie i en VR miljö byggd i Unity. Testen var uppbyggda för att efterlikna en kateter som genomtränger ett plan där användaren trycker på en knapp då den trängde igenom planet. För att testa olika färger på fokusobjektet, i detta fall ett plan, blev bakgrunden tilldelad neutrala färger (vit och svart) och när bakgrunden testades var planet tilldelad en neutral färg (vit). Resultaten från studien visar att färg har en liten effekt, upp till 13.2 mm i fel (för den gula kulörtonen med hög ljusintensitet och hög mättnad), på djupseende i VR. Inget enskilt attribut var bättre än ett annat, men på objektet gav blå kulörton det största felet medan röd kulörton gav det minsta felet. För bakgrunden var det mer variation på data men grön och blå kulörton gav de minsta felen och röd och gul gav de största felen. Färgen har olika påverkan på djupseende i VR beroende på om färgen är applicerad på en bakgrund eller ett objekt. Röd färg gav det mest korrekta djupseendet när den var applicerad på objektet. För färg applicerad på bakgrund, resulterade grön kulörton med hög ljusintensitet och blå kulörton med låg ljusintensitet i det mest korrekta djupseendet.

No / Differences in transduction and transmission latencies of visual, auditory and tactile events cause corresponding differences in simple reaction time. As reaction time is usually measured in unimodal blocks, it is unclear whether such latency differences also apply when observers monitor multiple sensory channels. We investigate this by comparing reaction time when attention is focused on a single modality, and when attention is divided between multiple modalities. Results show that tactile reaction time is unaffected by dividing attention, whereas visual and auditory reaction times are significantly and asymmetrically increased. These findings show that tactile information is processed preferentially by the nervous system under conditions of divided attention, and suggest that tactile events may be processed preattentively. / Wellcome Trust, Leverhulme Trust, College of Optometrists

Das Reizdarmsyndrom (RDS) ist eine funktionale Darmerkrankung mit einer Prävalenz von 10.000 – 20.000/100.000 in verschiedenen Kulturen. Keine einzelne physiologische oder psychologische Ursache konnte bisher isoliert werden. Ein sensitiver und spezifischer Maker sind herabgesetzte rektale Schmerzschwellen. Veränderungen der cerebralen viszerosensorischen und nozizeptiven Repräsentation sind mit Neuroimaging-Studien untersucht worden. Die Verarbeitung von Reizen unterhalb der Wahrnehmungsschwelle scheint sich von der Verarbeitung bewusster Reize zu unterscheiden. Wir untersuchten daher sub- und supraliminale rektale Wahrnehmung von 8 RDS-Patienten und 8 parallelisierten gesunden Kontrollprobanden. Die Reizschwelle wurde mit Hilfe eines Tracking-Paradigmas bestimmt. In einer funktionellen Magnetresonanztomographie (fMRT)-Studie wurden Reize unter, über und in der Nähe der Wahrnehmungsschwelle in einem pseudorandomisierten Blockdesign präsentiert. Bei supraliminaler Stimulation gesunder Probanden konnten der bekannte spinothalamische und vagale Pfad repliziert werden. Bei subliminaler Stimulation zeigte sich in einer Einzelauswertung eine ähnliche Verarbeitung, damit konnten die Vorergebnisse hier ebenfalls repliziert werden. In der Gruppenauswertung fand sich Aktivierung nur in Arealen, die bei supraliminaler Stimulation nicht aktiv waren. RDS-Patienten zeigten weniger Aktivität bei subliminaler und mehr bei liminaler Stimulation. Bei supraliminaler Stimulation zeigten sich unterschiedliche aktivierte Areale. Insbesondere war der Amygdala-Hippocampus-Komplex bei Patienten stärker aktiviert. Die Ergebnisse bei supraliminaler und liminaler Stimulation können als verstärkte Aufmerksamkeit auf eben wahrnehmbare Darmreize und als verstärkte emotionale Verarbeitung interpretiert werden. Bei der subliminalen Stimulation kann man schwächere Aktivität schmerzunterdrückender Netze annehmen oder von einem methodischen Artefakt ausgehen. / Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional bowel disease with a prevalence of 10.000 - 20.000/100.000 across cultures. So far, no single physiological or psychological reason has been identified. Nevertheless, reduced rectal pain thresholds represent a sensitive and specific marker. Alterations in cerebral viscerosensory and nociceptive representation have been addressed using neuroimaging studies. Processing of stimuli below conscious perception level seems to differ from consciously perceived stimuli. Thus, we examined sub- and supraliminal rectal perception in 8 patients with IBS and 8 healthy matched control subjects. Perception thresholds were assessed by a tracking paradigm. In an functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study using a block design, stimuli below, above, or around the subjective perception threshold were presented in pseudo-randomized order. At supraliminal stimulation in healthy controls, results of previous studies were replicated and confirmed a spinothalamic and a vagal pathway of visceral sensory perception and suggested processing in amygdala and hippocampus. At subliminal stimulation in healthy controls, previous results were also replicated showing similar processing in single subject analysis. Results of a group analysis yielded only activity in areas not activated at supraliminal stimulation. IBS patients showed less pronounced activity during subliminal stimulation and much more pronounced activity at liminal stimulation. At supraliminal stimulation, different areas showed active in both groups. In particular, the amygdala-hippocampus complex was more active in patients. Results at liminal and supraliminal stimulation can be interpreted as enhanced attention to around-threshold rectal stimuli and more pronounced emotional processing of conciously perceived stimuli. Results at subliminal stimulation can be understood as weaker activity of perception-suppressing pathways or as methodological artifact.

Prevalence rates of many types of psychopathology are lower for men than they are for women, but the causes of these discrepancies are not known. This paper focuses on two such psychopathology groups – eating disorders and depressive disorders – and examines gender differences within a transactional theory of stress that takes into account levels of cognitive processing (an expanded transactional theory of stress). Both studies found that men are more physiologically reactive to disorder-relevant, stressful stimuli and stressful events. The study on depression also found that different cognitive processes may be depressogenic for men and women: deployment of attentional resources toward negative stimuli was associated with depression in men, while deployment of attentional resources away from positive stimuli was associated with depression in women. These findings have significant implications for choosing appropriate treatment options for men and women.

Prevalence rates of many types of psychopathology are lower for men than they are for women, but the causes of these discrepancies are not known. This paper focuses on two such psychopathology groups – eating disorders and depressive disorders – and examines gender differences within a transactional theory of stress that takes into account levels of cognitive processing (an expanded transactional theory of stress). Both studies found that men are more physiologically reactive to disorder-relevant, stressful stimuli and stressful events. The study on depression also found that different cognitive processes may be depressogenic for men and women: deployment of attentional resources toward negative stimuli was associated with depression in men, while deployment of attentional resources away from positive stimuli was associated with depression in women. These findings have significant implications for choosing appropriate treatment options for men and women.