The implication of cognitive processes in emotional bias

Abstract

Recently, Yuan et al. (2019) quantitatively reviewed emotional bias studies with P3 event-related potential amplitudes and demonstrated that emotional bias varies with stimulus parameters, such as type, arousal, and task setting. We believe that emotional biases might profitably be studied together with cognitive processes in order to understand the affective dysregulation underpinning various mental illnesses. In this commentary, we highlighted the role of attention bias and interpretation bias as examples of cognitive processes affecting emotional bias in anxiety disorders. We discussed the potential synergy of examining cognitive processes alongside emotional bias to understand the psychopathology underlying various prevalent forms of mental disorders and potentially disentangle the intricate mechanisms for further interventions.