The effect of positive extrinsic distraction on the temporal dynamics of emotional response to aversive stimuli

Distraction, or deploying one’s attention away from emotionally negative information is a powerful form of emotion regulation. However, distracting oneself intrinsically can be cognitively effortful, and is not amenable to emergency situations that may require immediate intervention with an untrained audience. The aim of this study was to investigate if extrinsic distraction can attenuate the late positive potential (LPP) to aversive stimuli. We specifically tested (a) whether extrinsic distraction, presented in the form of a positive picture appearing one second after a negative picture and staying on screen, can attenuate the resulting emotional response, and (b) whether the degree of attenuation depended on placing the distracting picture near or far from the negative one. While the overall LPP from negative images did not differ significantly pre-and post-distraction, our results confirm a time effect so that the emotional response attenuated after a distracting image was shown. Specifically, LPP reduced about two seconds after the distracting image was shown both near and far. After about half a second, this attenuation disappears. Compared to intrinsic distraction reported in the literature, the reduction in LPP with extrinsic distraction was found to be stronger albeit lasting for a much shorter time. These results should motivate further studies investigating the content and dynamics of presentation of external interventions for emotion regulation.