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Abstract

Colors can have an influence on the emotional processing of affective stimuli. In this work, we investigate if the emotional processing of images from the International-Affective-Picture-System (IAPS; Lang et al., 2008) are modulated when experienced through tinted lenses. The experiment (N=20) presented IAPS images (Valence: neutral, pleasant, unpleasant) for a duration of 3s and participants wore tinted lenses (Tint: none, Blue, Red, Yellow, Green). During image presentation, we measured EEG/ERP and Skin-Conductance-Response (SCR). We found that phasic SCR was significantly diminished with Red. In the EEG, we observed an ERP component that differentiated for the factors of Valence and Tint, which was similar to the late-positive-potential (i.e., LPP; 500-1500ms; FCz). An ANOVA of the mean voltage potential returned significant main effects for Valence (F(2,38)=15.0, p<.05, ω²=.41) and Tint (F(4,76)=3.46, p<.05, ω²=.11) and their interaction (F(8,152)=2.12, p<.05, ω²=.05). With neutral images, yellow tinted lens resulted in largest LPP compared to none. With pleasant and unpleasant images, red tinted lens diminished the LPP response relative to none. To conclude, red tinted lenses appear to suppress an arousal response to high valence images. Interestingly, individuals with meditation experience have similarly been reported to reduce LPP responses to negative images (Sobolewski et al., 2011).