Event-related potentials during exposure to aversion and its anticipation: The moderating effect of intolerance of uncertainty

The aim of the present study was to investigate the moderating effect of intolerance of uncertainty (IU) on exposure to aversion and its anticipation using event-related potentials (ERPs). Sixteen subjects high in IU and 16 subjects low in IU underwent an affective cueing paradigm where a warning cue signaled the valence of a subsequent picture. A minus signaled the occurrence of a negative picture, a circle of a neutral picture, and a question mark of either an aversive or a neutral picture (probability of 50%). The major findings were that during anticipation, increased P200 amplitudes were observed in individuals high in IU. During exposure, uncertainty about the outcome modulated the P200, N200 and late positive potential (LPP). Also, only in the IU-high group and only in the late time window of the LPP, aversive pictures were processed differently depending on the preceding warning cue. The present findings underline the importance of affective uncertainty for subjects high in IU and the results are explained in terms of heightened attention allocation to uncertainty and a dampening effect of worry on subsequent emotional processing.

► The IU-high group exhibited enlarged P200 amplitudes during anticipation.
► During picture viewing, preceding uncertainty modulates P200 and N200 amplitudes.
► Aversion is processed differently in IU-high individuals as mirrored by late ERPs.
► IU-high individuals are characterized by attention allocation to uncertainty.
► In IU-high individuals, LPP2 amplitudes are modulated by uncertainty and valence.