6533b7d8fe1ef96bd12699b1

RESEARCH PRODUCT

N170 response to facial expressions is modulated by the affective congruency between the emotional expression and preceding affective picture

Jari K. HietanenPiia Astikainen

subject

AdultMaleEmotionsAffective primingChoice Behaviorbehavioral disciplines and activitiesYoung AdultDiscrimination PsychologicalReaction TimeHumansEmotional expressionta515Analysis of VarianceFacial expressionGeneral NeuroscienceElectroencephalographyRecognition PsychologyMiddle AgedFacial ExpressionNeuropsychology and Physiological PsychologyFacilitationEvoked Potentials VisualFemalePsychologyPriming (psychology)Photic StimulationCognitive psychology

description

Does contextual affective information influence the processing of facial expressions already at the relatively early stages of face processing? We measured event-related brain potentials to happy and sad facial expressions primed by preceding pictures with affectively positive and negative scenes. The face-sensitive N170 response amplitudes showed a clear affective priming effect: N170 amplitudes to happy faces were larger when presented after positive vs. negative primes, whereas the N170 amplitudes to sad faces were larger when presented after negative vs. positive primes. Priming effects were also observed on later brain responses. The results support an early integration in processing of contextual and facial affective information. The results also provide neurophysiological support for theories suggesting that behavioral affective priming effects are based, at least in part, on facilitation of encoding of incoming affective information.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2013-02-01Biological Psychology
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2012.10.005