Running head: FEAR, DISGUST, AND MOTIVATIONAL SALIENCE 1 Fear and Disgust: Brain Responses to Two Signals of Motivational Salience by

The late positive potential (LPP) is an event-related potential (ERP) component occurring in the centro-parietal scalp region and has shown to be reactive to emotional stimuli. The current study sought to evaluate LPP response to disgust and threat images, in particular, and to compare this response to self-report measures of disgust sensitivity, state and trait anxiety, and stimulus ratings. Twenty-eight participants were shown ninety emotionally evocative images (30 disgust, 30 threat, 30 neutral) while EEG data was recorded. Disgust images elicited a greater LPP than threat and neutral images, respectively. Disgust sensitivity ratings were correlated with LPP magnitude in response to both disgust and threat images, while anxiety measures were not correlated with LPP magnitude in response to any image type. Results show that magnitude of LPP response may be most related to stimuli and emotions significant to the individual; however, more research is necessary to corroborate this claim