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Cited by 26Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesNeural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesPsychotherapy Techniques and Applications

On the malleability of emotional encoding

Mathews, Andrew·2004·Behaviour Research and Therapy
DOI 10.1016/j.brat.2004.04.003
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Abstract

The encoding of emotional events has sometimes been regarded as automatic, because the processing involved can occur outside awareness. However, this does not mean that emotional encoding cannot be controlled, although it may often be the case that people are unaware of how to do so, or even that such control is possible. Evidence is presented to show that the neural activation associated with fear-related stimuli can be modified by top-down control, and that related instructions can modify emotional vulnerability to stressful events. However, it is further argued that such effortful control is resource limited, and that more robust control might be achieved via repeated practice in accessing positive representations that inhibit competing negative meanings. Studies of attentional and interpretative encoding biases induced by practice show that they have causal effects on emotional vulnerability, by influencing how threatening events are encoded. Experimental investigations are beginning to reveal the critical processes underlying these changes in emotional vulnerability, and it is argued that the same approach is likely to be helpful in addressing questions relevant to therapeutic change.

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Authors
Mathews, A.
Affiliations
MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit (GB)
Corresponding author
Mathews, Andrew
Venue
Behaviour Research and Therapy
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2004-09
Volume
42
Issue
9
Pages
1019-1036
ISSN
0005-7967 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.brat.2004.04.003
OpenAlex
W2029117712
Cited by
25
References
65
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 1
FWCI
3.80
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Behaviour Research and Therapy (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
Keywords
emotional encoding, top-down control, effortful control, resource constraints, attentional bias, interpretation bias, emotional vulnerability, fear, threat processing, practice effects, positive representation, cognitive control, therapeutic change
MeSH terms
Anxiety, Attention, Humans, Models, Psychological, Psychotherapy, Reflex, Startle

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