COLLOQUIUM SERIES

                                                      Department of Psychiatry
                                                        Schulich Medicine & Dentistry
                                                        University of Western Ontario

Emotional information, such as reward or punishment, gains rapid and often preferential access to neurocognitive resources. This ability to quickly evaluate and integrate emotion-related information is thought to benefit a range of behaviours critical for survival. However, the improper use of, or preoccupation with, emotional information is associated with disruptions in functioning and psychiatric disorders. Optimally, an organism utilizes emotional information when it is significant, and minimizes its influence when it is not.

Recently, similar regions of prefrontal cortex have been identified that are associated with regulating both behavioural conflict and affective conflict. Data will be presented that concerns this convergence between decision making (determining what to do) and emotion regulation (determining how we feel). Specifically, evidence will be reviewed from our recent fMRI studies examining the resolution of emotional conflict in the context of decision making, representation, and awareness.