The effect of negative emotion on multiple object tracking task: An ERP study

Previous studies have revealed that negative emotion may influence participants' cognitive processing. However, the neural mechanism of the impact of negative emotion on dynamic task like Multiple Object Tracking (MOT) is still unknown. This present study used electrophysiological (Event-Related Potentials, ERP) measures to investigate the effect of negative emotion on MOT tasks. Participants were required to complete MOT tasks while detecting the probe dots that would appear on targets, distractors or the space between them during tracking. Results of N2 amplitude showed that the distractor inhibition effect existed only in the neutral emotional picture condition. The P3 amplitude in the parietal area was also modulated by the emotion condition. P3 amplitude in the occipital area showed a target enhancement effect for both the neutral and negative emotion condition. The present study indicates that negative emotion could affect attention resource allocation during MOT.