Cognition, Behavior, and Memory
Author: Verónica Adriana Ramírez Ramírez | email: veronica.adriana.ramirez@gmail.com
Verónica Adriana Ramírez 1°, Sophie Mizrahi 2°, Eliana Ruetti 3°
1° Unidad de Neurobiología Aplicada, UNA, CEMIC-CONICET; Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Buenos Aires
2° Facultad de Ciencias Humanas y de la Conducta, Universidad Favaloro
3° Unidad de Neurobiología Aplicada, UNA, CEMIC-CONICET
Introduction. How emotions are processed affects peoples cognition and behaviour. One of the most used measures to study the physiological component of emotions is heart rate (HR), where greater HR variation (range) implies greater emotional processing. Several investigations established the importance of gender modulation of these processes due to the different cultural treatment given to emotions among genders. However, very heterogeneous results are reported today, and few studies incorporated these parameters when investigating emotion modulation of cognitive processes according to individual factors. Aim. This study analyzes the role of individual differences in HR variation during a cognitive control task (Stroop) under two different emotional conditions. Methods. Participants were 60 adults aged between 19-35. They were randomly assigned to positive or neutral video visualization, and their HR was registered. Results. There was a tendency for women to have higher HR during positive videos than in neutral. Although there were no differences in HR during the video, men presented a higher HR in the positive condition than in neutral in every Stroop block. No significant correlations were found between HR and age. Discussion. The visualization of the positive video could have generated an autonomic activation that was launched in response to cognitive demand. This study illustrates the importance of including gender variables in emotional processing studies.