Visual sensory discrimination of threatening stimuli presenting different durations: A magnetoencephalographic and behavioral study

Whether time exposure influences visual sensory processing of emotional stimulation is an unexplored issue, despite its relevance to understanding affective processing. We recorded magnetoencephalographic (MEG) activity -concretely event-related magnetic fields (ERFs)- from 25 participants while att...

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Main Authors: Luis Carretié, Javier Echegaray, Constantino Méndez-Bértolo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-04-01
Series:NeuroImage
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811925001600
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author Luis Carretié
Javier Echegaray
Constantino Méndez-Bértolo
author_facet Luis Carretié
Javier Echegaray
Constantino Méndez-Bértolo
author_sort Luis Carretié
collection DOAJ
description Whether time exposure influences visual sensory processing of emotional stimulation is an unexplored issue, despite its relevance to understanding affective processing. We recorded magnetoencephalographic (MEG) activity -concretely event-related magnetic fields (ERFs)- from 25 participants while attending to spiders (emotional stimuli) and wheels (neutral) silhouettes they had to categorize. These stimuli were presented during 33.33, 66.66, 133.33, and 266.66 ms, and could appear at the center of the screen (fixation) or in the lower visual field (periphery). Behavioral performance revealed improved detection of negative emotional stimuli at fixation, and this effect did not interact with exposure time. At the neural level, greater amplitudes for spiders than for wheels were observed when presented at fixation in two visual ERF components, M100 and M150, an effect originating in striate and extrastriate visual cortices, respectively. This effect, ocurring later for stimuli presented at the periphery (M210, estimated in the extrastriate cortex), neither interacted with stimulus duration. This threat detection mechanism in the visual cortex independent of stimulus duration points to an all-or-nothing, rather than gradual, sensory discrimination of emotional cues regarding their exposure time.
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spelling doaj-art-e7ae0945d8e34dee94320ed537ff3efd2025-08-20T02:07:57ZengElsevierNeuroImage1095-95722025-04-0131012115810.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121158Visual sensory discrimination of threatening stimuli presenting different durations: A magnetoencephalographic and behavioral studyLuis Carretié0Javier Echegaray1Constantino Méndez-Bértolo2Corresponding autor at: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain; Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, SpainWilhelm Wundt Institute for Psychology, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, GermanyDepartamento de Psicología. Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación, Universidad de Cádiz, 11519 Cádiz, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Cádiz (INIBICA), Hospital Universitario Puerta del Mar, 11009 Cádiz, SpainWhether time exposure influences visual sensory processing of emotional stimulation is an unexplored issue, despite its relevance to understanding affective processing. We recorded magnetoencephalographic (MEG) activity -concretely event-related magnetic fields (ERFs)- from 25 participants while attending to spiders (emotional stimuli) and wheels (neutral) silhouettes they had to categorize. These stimuli were presented during 33.33, 66.66, 133.33, and 266.66 ms, and could appear at the center of the screen (fixation) or in the lower visual field (periphery). Behavioral performance revealed improved detection of negative emotional stimuli at fixation, and this effect did not interact with exposure time. At the neural level, greater amplitudes for spiders than for wheels were observed when presented at fixation in two visual ERF components, M100 and M150, an effect originating in striate and extrastriate visual cortices, respectively. This effect, ocurring later for stimuli presented at the periphery (M210, estimated in the extrastriate cortex), neither interacted with stimulus duration. This threat detection mechanism in the visual cortex independent of stimulus duration points to an all-or-nothing, rather than gradual, sensory discrimination of emotional cues regarding their exposure time.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811925001600EmotionSensory processingVisual cortexMagnetoencephalographyStimulus duration
spellingShingle Luis Carretié
Javier Echegaray
Constantino Méndez-Bértolo
Visual sensory discrimination of threatening stimuli presenting different durations: A magnetoencephalographic and behavioral study
NeuroImage
Emotion
Sensory processing
Visual cortex
Magnetoencephalography
Stimulus duration
title Visual sensory discrimination of threatening stimuli presenting different durations: A magnetoencephalographic and behavioral study
title_full Visual sensory discrimination of threatening stimuli presenting different durations: A magnetoencephalographic and behavioral study
title_fullStr Visual sensory discrimination of threatening stimuli presenting different durations: A magnetoencephalographic and behavioral study
title_full_unstemmed Visual sensory discrimination of threatening stimuli presenting different durations: A magnetoencephalographic and behavioral study
title_short Visual sensory discrimination of threatening stimuli presenting different durations: A magnetoencephalographic and behavioral study
title_sort visual sensory discrimination of threatening stimuli presenting different durations a magnetoencephalographic and behavioral study
topic Emotion
Sensory processing
Visual cortex
Magnetoencephalography
Stimulus duration
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811925001600
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AT javierechegaray visualsensorydiscriminationofthreateningstimulipresentingdifferentdurationsamagnetoencephalographicandbehavioralstudy
AT constantinomendezbertolo visualsensorydiscriminationofthreateningstimulipresentingdifferentdurationsamagnetoencephalographicandbehavioralstudy