RESUMO
Previous studies have explored effects of the conscious processing of emotional information on the interaction between emotion and executive control. However, the conscious processing of emotional information introduces "defensive responses," which might limit the emotional effect. To avoid the limitations, this study aimed to explore the effect of automatic emotional processing on response inhibition among heroin abstainers. Individuals experiencing heroin withdrawal symptoms are not entirely exempt from the influence of drugs, and it is challenging to find heroin addicts in practice. Therefore, similar to previous studies, we recruited heroin abstainers in this study. In Experiment 1, for the heroin abstainers group, 30 participants meeting the inclusion criteria were recruited from a compulsory isolated detoxification center, whereas 30 age- and education-matched participants were recruited from the community as the control group. These participants completed the Go/No-Go task by supraliminal emotional priming. In Experiment 2, the heroin abstainers group comprised 33 eligible participants and control group comprised 33 eligible participants. These participants completed the Go/No-Go task by subliminal emotional priming. We compared the participants' rates of commission errors in the Go/No-Go tasks. The rate of commission errors was lowest upon the activation of positive emotion. Moreover, under subliminal emotional priming, the rate of commission errors for the heroin abstainers group was significantly lower than that for the control group. However, regarding supraliminal emotional priming, there was no significant difference between the rates of commission errors for the two groups. These results suggest automatic positive emotional processing can enhance response inhibition among heroin abstainers. Moreover, under subliminal emotional priming, heroin abstainers had more enhanced response inhibition than the control groups. This study plays a significant role in understanding the effect of automatic emotional processing on response inhibition among drug addicts. This study also provides a theoretical basis for ensuring enhanced response inhibition among drug addicts.
Assuntos
Emoções , Heroína , Humanos , Emoções/fisiologiaRESUMO
BACKGROUND: It is well-documented that heroin users demonstrate aberrant emotion-processing abilities. However, the mechanism by which heroin users process emotional information after it has captured their attention and entered their working memory is unclear. OBJECTIVES: A modified emotional 2-back task was used to examine whether heroin abstainers demonstrate specific bias patterns in updating emotional stimuli in their working memory. METHODS: In total, 26 male heroin abstainers and 29 healthy controls were asked to identify whether the current picture was the same as a picture that had appeared two trials earlier, while behavioral data and electroencephalogram data were collected. RESULTS: Contrary to predictions, the heroin abstainers and healthy controls demonstrated a similar pattern of P300 activity in response to emotional stimuli with no between-group differences in accuracy or reaction time. More specifically, the P300 amplitudes were larger for negative pictures than for positive and neutral pictures. Surprisingly, we found larger P300 amplitudes at Fz electrodes than at Cz and Pz electrodes in the control group, whereas there was no significant difference at midline electrodes in the heroin abstainers. CONCLUSIONS/IMPORTANCE: Although subtle differences may exist in attentional engagement toward incoming emotional stimulus between two groups, the similar P300 pattern may indicate partial preservation of emotional working memory capacity associated with adaptive emotion regulation in heroin abstainers. These results deepen our understanding of the emotion regulation impairments associated with chronic drug use.
