# Interaction of Emotional Perception and Visual Attention

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIV OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK · 2021 · $664,653

## Abstract

The understanding of the brain mechanisms of emotion and motivation has grown steadily in the
past two decades. The majority of the work in the rodent and human literatures has relied
heavily on particular paradigms, such as the perception of faces with emotion content in
humans, and aversive conditioning procedures in both humans and animals. The present
application proposes a series of experimental paradigms that are ecologically inspired, semi-
naturalistic, and dynamic.
 The objective of this application is to investigate the dynamics of threat processing
during escape behaviors, as well as the dynamics of threat/reward processing during approach-
avoid conflict paradigms. Across experiments, we seek to both characterize and test specific
hypotheses centered around a set of brain regions implicated in aversive and appetitive
processing. We seek to characterize their contributions individually but also as distributed
circuits that collectively and dynamically support behaviors.
 The proposed work is organized around two aims. Aim 1 investigates the circuits
supporting threat escape. Rodent studies suggest that the ventral striatum/accumbens is an
important node during escape behaviors. Whereas some work in humans (e.g., avoidance
conditioning) supports this notion, other work with ethologically inspired paradigms has also
revealed the participation of regions such as the mid-cingulate cortex and the anterior
hippocampus. Experiments will test the contributions of these and other brain regions to escape
mechanisms. Aim 2 investigates the circuits involved in aversive and appetitive interactions
during dynamic threat and reward processing. Experiments will employ dynamic stimuli where
the proximity to threat and reward vary dynamically.
 Collectively, the work addresses a set of basic research questions aimed at
understanding how emotion/motivation circuits outlined in the past decades supports dynamic
processing. The potential results may inform the clinically-oriented human literature, which has
been heavily informed and inspired by research with standard experimental paradigms.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10242930
- **Project number:** 5R01MH071589-17
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK
- **Principal Investigator:** LUIZ PESSOA
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $664,653
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2004-06-19 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10242930

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10242930, Interaction of Emotional Perception and Visual Attention (5R01MH071589-17). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10242930. Licensed CC0.

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