The Interaction between Emotional Language and Inhibitory Control in Chinese: An ERP Study

The present ERP study investigated the mutual influence between Chinese emotional language and IC using a Go/NoGo task. In Experiment 1, the ERP results revealed that negative emotional language facilitated IC, with smaller NoGo-N2 amplitudes and larger NoGo-P3 amplitudes in negative emotional condition. In Experiment 2, with a Go/NoGo cue preceding the emotional language, the study examined the effect of a pre-established inhibition state on emotional language processing. The reduced N400 amplitudes in NoGo condition confirmed the facilitating effect of IC on the semantic integration of negative language in Chinese, whereas the enhanced LPP in NoGo and Go conditions indicated that the inhibited state may not affect the further and deeper refinement toward the emotional content. However, no interaction was found between IC and positive emotional language processing. These results suggest an interaction exists between IC and negative emotional language processing in Chinese, supporting the integrative emotion-cognition view.