Horizontal eye movements foster approach to negative pictures but do not change emotional valence: A dopaminergic regulation hypothesis

A new dopaminergic regulation hypothesis is proposed based on two experiments exploring eye-movement effects. In the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Saccade-Induced Retrieval Enhancement (SIRE) domains, mechanisms are mainly studied with explicit measures. Here implicit measures of emotion memory for positive negative pictures were investigated after eye movements or fixation in extreme right-handers. enhanced recognition predominantly pictures. The absence repetition priming both supported a dissociation between memory. Motivational effects emerged but affect remained unchanged. Experiment 2 revealed, initial freezing to pictures, an acceleration, particularly approach responses. postulated foster towards memories, promote, though pathways from Superior Colliculus, active regulation, primarily persons collateralization dopamine dominance.