Faculty of Psychology and Human Movement Science, Institute for Psychology, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
Psychophysiology. 2018 Jan;55(1). doi: 10.1111/psyp.12727. Epub 2017 Mar 17.
The influence of positive emotions on the balance between cognitive stability and flexibility has been suggested to (a) differ among various positive emotional/motivational states (e.g., of varying approach motivation intensity), and (b) be mediated by brain dopamine (DA). Frontal EEG alpha asymmetry (ASY) is considered an indicator of approach motivational states and may be modulated by DA. The personality trait of extraversion is strongly linked to positive emotions and is now thought to reflect DA-based individual differences in incentive/approach motivation. The present study independently manipulated positive emotion (high approach wanting-expectancy [WE] vs. low approach warmth-liking [WL]) and dopamine (placebo vs. DA D2 blocker sulpiride) to examine their effects on both cognitive stability-flexibility and emotion-related ASY changes. The results showed numerically lower stability-flexibility in WE versus WL under placebo and a complete reversal of this effect under the D2 blocker, no differentiation between WE and WL groups in terms of emotion-related ASY change, but an association between self-reported WE and WL and ASY changes toward left and right frontal cortical activity, respectively. Finally, extraversion was positively associated with both stability-flexibility and ASY changes toward left frontal cortical activity under placebo, and these associations were completely reversed under the D2 blocker. The results (a) support a dopaminergic basis for frontal EEG asymmetry, extraversion, and the modulating effect of positive emotions on stability-flexibility, and (b) extend previous reports of cognitive differences between introverts and extraverts.
积极情绪对认知稳定性和灵活性之间平衡的影响被认为 (a) 在各种积极情绪/动机状态（例如，不同的趋近动机强度）之间存在差异，以及 (b) 由大脑多巴胺 (DA) 介导。额叶 EEG 阿尔法不对称 (ASY) 被认为是趋近动机状态的指标，并且可能受到 DA 的调节。外向性格特质与积极情绪密切相关，现在被认为反映了基于 DA 的个体在激励/趋近动机方面的差异。本研究独立地操纵积极情绪（高趋近期待 [WE] 与低趋近温暖喜爱 [WL]）和多巴胺（安慰剂与 DA D2 阻滞剂舒必利），以研究它们对认知稳定性-灵活性以及与情绪相关的 ASY 变化的影响。结果表明，在安慰剂下，WE 比 WL 的稳定性-灵活性数值更低，而在 D2 阻滞剂下，这种影响完全逆转，WE 和 WL 组在与情绪相关的 ASY 变化方面没有差异，但自我报告的 WE 和 WL 与 ASY 变化分别与左、右额叶皮质活动有关。最后，在安慰剂下，外向性与稳定性-灵活性以及左额叶皮质活动的 ASY 变化呈正相关，而在 D2 阻滞剂下，这些相关性完全逆转。结果 (a) 支持额叶 EEG 不对称、外向性和积极情绪对稳定性-灵活性的调节作用的多巴胺基础，以及 (b) 扩展了内向者和外向者之间认知差异的先前报告。
