Aversively conditioned context enhances visual size illusion via stimulus-specific neural networks.

ABSTRACT: Emotion-perception interaction is a fundamental question in cognitive neuroscience, yet the underlying neural mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we probed this issue by combining fear conditioning paradigm with the classic Ebbinghaus illusion. We associated the surrounding context of the Ebbinghaus illusion with aversive stimuli (electric shock or intense noise) and measured behavioral and neural responses. Behaviorally, aversively conditioned contexts enhanced the perceived size illusion effect, with shock producing a stronger conditioning effect than noise. Neuroimaging revealed distinct neural pathways mediating these effects: shock conditioning strengthened occipital-to-parietal connectivity, while noise conditioning enhanced prefrontal-to-parietal connectivity. Moreover, noise

SUBMITTER: Zhu J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12329298 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature