The Effect Of Positive Emotions With Different Approach Motivations On Cognitive Control And Its Neural Mechanism

Perceptual experience(emotion and affection)and rational control(cognition and control)have always been important mental activities that accompany us at every moment of our lives.In recent years,research has also focused more and more on the impact of positive emotions on cognitive control.From the duality theory of emotional valence to the motivational dimension model of emotions proposed by Gable and Harmon-Jones,the empirical findings of positive emotions affecting cognitive processing are complex.To be sure,more and more studies have shown that positive emotions are not a single structure,and there are different psychological mechanisms for the impact of emotional dimensions on the field of cognitive processing.Although researchers have always paid attention to the influence of positive emotions on the spatial field of cognitive processing in the motivational dimension,there is still a lack of empirical research to explore the effects of different approach motivational positive emotions on cognitive control,and there is no in-depth study on the neural mechanism.At the same time,self-depletion is an important factor affecting cognitive control,and its prevalence in daily life can easily affect an individual’s advanced cognitive activities.Therefore,this study designs two experiments based on the motivational dimension theory of emotions.Experiment 1 uses the method of emotional video induction to investigate the influence of positive emotions with different approach motivations on cognitive control after self-depletion,and the experimental results are measured by the response accuracy rate and response time of Stroop effect in the classical Stroop task.Based on Experiment 1,Experiment 2 will use functional near-infrared spectroscopy(f NIRS)to investigate the neural mechanisms of different approach motivational emotions and cognitive control.The results of this study are as follows:In experiment 1,the main effects of positive emotions with approach motivation and self-depletion were significant.The performance of participants in the low approach motivational positive emotion group was significantly better than that in the high approach motivational positive emotion group,and the cognitive control task performance of the control group was also significantly higher than that in the loss group.However,the interaction between approach motivational positive emotions and self-depletion on cognitive control tasks was not significant.The results of the near-infrared study in experiment 2 found that in the emotion-induced task,more brain regions were significantly activated in the high approach motivational positive mood group,and there were significantly marginal differences in the activation of the right anterior central gyrus(Precentral＿R)and the left dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus(Frontal＿Sup＿L)region in the positive emotion group.Participants in the high approach motivational mood group showed more active blood oxygen activity in the right anterior central gyrus(Precentral＿R).Participants in the low approach motivational group had more pronounced blood oxygen changes in the left dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus(Frontal＿Sup＿L).In cognitive control tasks,multiple brain regions are significantly activated only under low motivational mood conditions.When participants performed cognitive control tasks under different positive emotional conditions of approach motivation,the activation of the left dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus(Frontal＿Sup＿L)and the right inferior frontal gyrus(Frontal＿Inf＿Tri＿R)was significantly different.There was a significant positive correlation between the emotion-evoking task and the cognitive control task on the right medial frontal gyrus in the low approach motivation positive emotion group.Thus,Ventral medial prefrontal cortex(VMPFC)may be an underlying neural mechanism by which low approach motivation positive emotions affect individual cognitive control.In summary,the experimental results verify the differential results of high and low approach motivational positive emotions in the field of affecting cognitive control.The arousal of positive emotions with low approach motivation helps to improve the level of cognitive control,enhance the ability of cognitive flexibility and response inhibition.This study expands the theory of the motivational dimension of positive emotions from the scope of cognitive spatial processing to the impact on cognitive control such as response inhibition.The results show that the multidimensional structure of positive emotions has an inconsistent effect on cognitive control,which provides an empirical basis for further exploring the psychological and neural mechanisms of approach motivational positive emotions on cognitive control.