Neural Correlates of Emotion-Cognition Interactions in Healthy and Clinical Groups

Complex behaviors involve reciprocal influences between emotion and cognition. On the one hand, emotion is a “double-edged sword” that may affect various aspects of our cognition and behaviour, by enhancing or hindering them and by exerting transient and long-term influences. On the other hand, emotion processing is also susceptible to cognitive influences, typically exerted in the form of cognitive control of emotion, or emotion regulation. Investigation of these relationships is fundamental not only for understanding the mechanisms underlying emotion-cognition interactions in healthy functioning, but also for understanding changes associated with affective disorders, such as depression and anxiety, in which these interactions are dysfunctional. In my talk, I will discuss evidence concerning the neural correlates of emotion-cognition interactions, as derived from brain imaging studies in healthy and clinical groups, as well as aspects regarding individual differences that may affect the susceptibility or resilience to affective disorders.

Florin Dolcos is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology and a full-time faculty member in the Beckman Institute’s Cognitive Neuroscience Group. His research investigates the neural correlates of emotion-cognition interactions in healthy and clinical populations. Dolcos conducted his Ph.D. research in cognitive and affective neurosciences at the University of Alberta’s Centre for Neuroscience and Duke University’s Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, and his postdoctoral training in cognitive, affective, and clinical neurosciences at Duke University’s Brain Imaging and Analysis Center. Dolcos joined the University of Illinois following an assistant professor appointment in the University of Alberta’s Department of Psychiatry.