Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41834111›Full record

ArticlePsychophysiology2026

Physiological Processing of Everyday Aversive Mental Imagery.

Xuan Yang, Sewon Oh, Jacob Stanley, Sarah Hammons, Ashley Anderson, Esha Gandhi, Douglas H Wedell, Svetlana V Shinkareva

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Psychophysiology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Xuan YangDepartment of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0006-9906-0004
Sewon OhDepartment of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA.
Jacob StanleyDepartment of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA.
Sarah HammonsDepartment of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA.
Ashley AndersonDepartment of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA.
Esha GandhiDepartment of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA.
Douglas H WedellDepartment of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA.
Svetlana V ShinkarevaDepartment of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5112-4829

Funding

Misophonia Research Fund
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Everyday aversive experiences, such as a crying infant or the sound of construction, are not life-threatening, yet they can strongly shape affective experience and physiological state. While most affective imagery research has focused on fear and anxiety, the mechanisms underlying imagery of mild, everyday aversive events remain underexplored. Across five experiments, we systematically investigated behavioral and physiological responses to aversive and appetitive mental imagery. Experiment 1 revealed robust corrugator EMG potentiation but comparatively weaker autonomic responses during aversive imagery compared with audiovisual and auditory stimulation. Experiments 2 and 3 identified key methodological factors that determine imagery potency, including imagery duration, instructional focus, and prompt design. Using an optimized paradigm, Experiment 4 demonstrated coherent changes across subjective valence and arousal ratings, EMG corrugator potentiation, heart rate deceleration, and skin temperature decreases for aversive compared with appetitive imagery, with effects modulated by individual differences in imagery vividness. Experiment 5 confirmed that these effects reflected genuine affective experience rather than semantic knowledge of the prompts. Together, these findings establish baseline physiological and subjective markers of everyday aversive imagery in typical young adults and emphasize the critical role of paradigm optimization in eliciting reliable affective imagery responses. By shifting focus from extreme to everyday aversive experiences, this work provides a framework for studying heightened sensitivity to ordinary stimuli in both basic and clinical contexts.

Indexed as

AffectImaginationAcoustic StimulationAdolescentAdultArousalElectromyographyFemaleHeart RateHumansMalePhotic StimulationSkin TemperatureYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID41834111
PMCPMC12989641

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.