Emotion and attention: event-related brain potential studies Harald T. Schupp, Tobias Flaisch, Jessica Stockburger, and Markus Junghöfer reviewed event-related brain potential (ERP) studies on how emotional images modulate specific ERP components, such as early posterior negativity (EPN), late positive potential (LPP), and sustained positive slow wave. These modulations are associated with different stages of stimulus processing, including perceptual encoding, working memory representation, and elaborate evaluation. The review also discusses the interaction of motivated attention with passive and active attentional control, and how emotional cues are processed in relation to stimulus novelty, emotional prime pictures, and learned significance. ERP measures are useful for assessing the emotion–attention interface at distinct processing stages. The review also explores the biphasic view of emotion, with two motivational subsystems: the self-preservative appetitive system and the protective defensive system. Emotional cues direct attentional resources and are processed differently based on their arousal level and valence. ERP studies show that emotional stimuli elicit distinct ERP components, such as EPN and LPP, which reflect the differential processing of emotional compared to neutral stimuli. The EPN is associated with early perceptual processing, while the LPP reflects working memory and elaborated evaluation. The positive slow wave follows the LPP and is associated with sustained attention to emotional stimuli. The review also discusses the effects of stimulus novelty on emotional processing, showing that emotional processing is not dependent on novelty. The findings suggest that detecting emotionally significant stimuli is an obligatory task for organisms, not habituating with passive exposure. The study also examines the interaction of emotion and attention, showing that explicit attention to task-relevant stimuli interferes with selective processing of emotional background information. Emotional primes can affect target processing, with emotional primes reducing the EPN of subsequent target pictures. The review concludes that ERP measures provide valuable insights into the emotion–attention interface, and that the interplay of attention and emotion varies across processing stages. The findings suggest that emotional processing is influenced by both explicit attention and implicit emotional significance, with the LPP reflecting the overadditive effects of paying attention to emotional stimuli. The study also highlights the role of the ascending locus coeruleus–norepinephrine (LC–NE) system in modulating attention and emotional processing. Overall, the review emphasizes the importance of ERP studies in understanding the complex interaction between emotion and attention.Emotion and attention: event-related brain potential studies Harald T. Schupp, Tobias Flaisch, Jessica Stockburger, and Markus Junghöfer reviewed event-related brain potential (ERP) studies on how emotional images modulate specific ERP components, such as early posterior negativity (EPN), late positive potential (LPP), and sustained positive slow wave. These modulations are associated with different stages of stimulus processing, including perceptual encoding, working memory representation, and elaborate evaluation. The review also discusses the interaction of motivated attention with passive and active attentional control, and how emotional cues are processed in relation to stimulus novelty, emotional prime pictures, and learned significance. ERP measures are useful for assessing the emotion–attention interface at distinct processing stages. The review also explores the biphasic view of emotion, with two motivational subsystems: the self-preservative appetitive system and the protective defensive system. Emotional cues direct attentional resources and are processed differently based on their arousal level and valence. ERP studies show that emotional stimuli elicit distinct ERP components, such as EPN and LPP, which reflect the differential processing of emotional compared to neutral stimuli. The EPN is associated with early perceptual processing, while the LPP reflects working memory and elaborated evaluation. The positive slow wave follows the LPP and is associated with sustained attention to emotional stimuli. The review also discusses the effects of stimulus novelty on emotional processing, showing that emotional processing is not dependent on novelty. The findings suggest that detecting emotionally significant stimuli is an obligatory task for organisms, not habituating with passive exposure. The study also examines the interaction of emotion and attention, showing that explicit attention to task-relevant stimuli interferes with selective processing of emotional background information. Emotional primes can affect target processing, with emotional primes reducing the EPN of subsequent target pictures. The review concludes that ERP measures provide valuable insights into the emotion–attention interface, and that the interplay of attention and emotion varies across processing stages. The findings suggest that emotional processing is influenced by both explicit attention and implicit emotional significance, with the LPP reflecting the overadditive effects of paying attention to emotional stimuli. The study also highlights the role of the ascending locus coeruleus–norepinephrine (LC–NE) system in modulating attention and emotional processing. Overall, the review emphasizes the importance of ERP studies in understanding the complex interaction between emotion and attention.