scholarly journals The neural basis of authenticity recognition in laughter and crying

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maciej Kosilo ◽  
Mónica Costa ◽  
Helen E. Nuttall ◽  
Hugo Ferreira ◽  
Sophie Scott ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Emotional Content ◽  
Emotional Expressions ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Motivational Salience ◽  
The Impact

AbstractDeciding whether others’ emotions are genuine is essential for successful communication and social relationships. While previous fMRI studies suggested that differentiation between authentic and acted emotional expressions involves higher-order brain areas, the time course of authenticity discrimination is still unknown. To address this gap, we tested the impact of authenticity discrimination on event-related potentials (ERPs) related to emotion, motivational salience, and higher-order cognitive processing (N100, P200 and late positive complex, the LPC), using vocalised non-verbal expressions of sadness (crying) and happiness (laughter) in a 32-participant, within-subject study. Using a repeated measures 2-factor (authenticity, emotion) ANOVA, we show that N100’s amplitude was larger in response to authentic than acted vocalisations, particularly in cries, while P200’s was larger in response to acted vocalisations, particularly in laughs. We suggest these results point to two different mechanisms: (1) a larger N100 in response to authentic vocalisations is consistent with its link to emotional content and arousal (putatively larger amplitude for genuine emotional expressions); (2) a larger P200 in response to acted ones is in line with evidence relating it to motivational salience (putatively larger for ambiguous emotional expressions). Complementarily, a significant main effect of emotion was found on P200 and LPC amplitudes, in that the two were larger for laughs than cries, regardless of authenticity. Overall, we provide the first electroencephalographic examination of authenticity discrimination and propose that authenticity processing of others’ vocalisations is initiated early, along that of their emotional content or category, attesting for its evolutionary relevance for trust and bond formation.

Neural Biases to Covert and Overt Signals of Fear: Dissociation by Trait Anxiety and Depression

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 1595-1608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leanne M. Williams ◽  
Andrew H. Kemp ◽  
Kim Felmingham ◽  
Belinda J. Liddell ◽  
Donna M. Palmer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Controlled Processing ◽  
Parallel Networks ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Conscious Attention ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Emotion Encoding

Although biases toward signals of fear may be an evolutionary adaptation necessary for survival, heightened biases may be maladaptive and associated with anxiety or depression. In this study, event-related potentials (ERPs) were used to examine the time course of neural responses to facial fear stimuli (versus neutral) presented overtly (for 500 msec with conscious attention) and covertly (for 10 msec with immediate masking to preclude conscious awareness) in 257 nonclinical subjects. We also examined the impact of trait anxiety and depression, assessed using psychometric ratings, on the time course of ERPs. In the total subject group, controlled biases to overtly processed fear were reflected in an enhancement of ERPs associated with structural encoding (120–220 msec) and sustained evaluation persisting from 250 msec and beyond, following a temporo-occipital to frontal topography. By contrast, covert fear processing elicited automatic biases, reflected in an enhancement of ERPs prior to structural encoding (80–180 msec) and again in the period associated with automatic orienting and emotion encoding (230–330 msec), which followed the reverse frontal to temporo-occipital topography. Higher levels of trait anxiety (in the clinical range) were distinguished by a heightened bias to covert fear (speeding of early ERPs), compared to higher depression which was associated with an opposing bias to overt fear (slowing of later ERPs). Anxiety also heightened early responses to covert fear, and depression to overt fear, with subsequent deficits in emotion encoding in each case. These findings are consistent with neural biases to signals of fear which operate automatically and during controlled processing, feasibly supported by parallel networks. Heightened automatic biases in anxiety may contribute to a cycle of hypervigilance and anxious thoughts, whereas depression may represent a “burnt out” emotional state in which evaluation of fear stimuli is prolonged only when conscious attention is allocated.

Time course and specificity of event-related potentials to emotional expressions

Neuroreport ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 211-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Ashley ◽  
Patrik Vuilleumier ◽  
Diane Swick
Keyword(s):  
Time Course ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Emotional Expressions ◽  
Related Potentials

scholarly journals On the origin of event-related potentials indexing covert attentional selection during visual search: timing of selection by macaque frontal eye field and event-related potentials during pop-out search

2013 ◽  
Vol 109 (2) ◽  
pp. 557-569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Braden A. Purcell ◽  
Jeffrey D. Schall ◽  
Geoffrey F. Woodman
Keyword(s):  
Time Course ◽  
Target Selection ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Attentional Selection ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Set Size ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Eye Field

Event-related potentials (ERPs) have provided crucial data concerning the time course of psychological processes, but the neural mechanisms producing ERP components remain poorly understood. This study continues a program of research in which we investigated the neural basis of attention-related ERP components by simultaneously recording intracranially and extracranially from macaque monkeys. Here, we compare the timing of attentional selection by the macaque homologue of the human N2pc component (m-N2pc) with the timing of selection in the frontal eye field (FEF), an attentional-control structure believed to influence posterior visual areas thought to generate the N2pc. We recorded FEF single-unit spiking and local field potentials (LFPs) simultaneously with the m-N2pc in monkeys performing an efficient pop-out search task. We assessed how the timing of attentional selection depends on task demands by direct comparison with a previous study of inefficient search in the same monkeys (e.g., finding a T among Ls). Target selection by FEF spikes, LFPs, and the m-N2pc was earlier during efficient pop-out search rather than during inefficient search. The timing and magnitude of selection in all three signals varied with set size during inefficient but not efficient search. During pop-out search, attentional selection was evident in FEF spiking and LFP before the m-N2pc, following the same sequence observed during inefficient search. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that feedback from FEF modulates neural activity in posterior regions that appear to generate the m-N2pc even when competition for attention among items in a visual scene is minimal.

scholarly journals The encoding of stochastic regularities is facilitated by action-effect predictions

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Betina Korka ◽  
Erich Schröger ◽  
Andreas Widmann
Keyword(s):  
Coding Theory ◽  
Predictive Coding ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Random Order ◽  
Generative Models ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Action Effect ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Sensory Prediction ◽  
Action Intention

AbstractOur brains continuously build and update predictive models of the world, sources of prediction being drawn for example from sensory regularities and/or our own actions. Yet, recent results in the auditory system indicate that stochastic regularities may not be easily encoded when a rare medium pitch deviant is presented between frequent high and low pitch standard sounds in random order, as reflected in the lack of sensory prediction error event-related potentials [i.e., mismatch negativity (MMN)]. We wanted to test the implication of the predictive coding theory that predictions based on higher-order generative models—here, based on action intention, are fed top-down in the hierarchy to sensory levels. Participants produced random sequences of high and low pitch sounds by button presses in two conditions: In a “specific” condition, one button produced high and the other low pitch sounds; in an “unspecific” condition, both buttons randomly produced high or low-pitch sounds. Rare medium pitch deviants elicited larger MMN and N2 responses in the “specific” compared to the “unspecific” condition, despite equal sound probabilities. These results thus demonstrate that action-effect predictions can boost stochastic regularity-based predictions and engage higher-order deviance detection processes, extending previous notions on the role of action predictions at sensory levels.

An ERP Study on Facial Expression of Emotion: Comparison of Linguistic and Visual Semantic Decoding

2005 ◽  
Vol 100 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michela Balconi
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Random Order ◽  
Normal Subjects ◽  
Emotional Content ◽  
Facial Stimuli ◽  
Facial Expression Of Emotion ◽  
Expression Of Emotion ◽  
Related Potentials

The present research compared the semantic information processing of linguistic stimuli with semantic elaboration of nonlinguistic facial stimuli. To explore brain potentials (ERPs, event-related potentials) related to decoding facial expressions and the effect of semantic valence of the stimulus, we analyzed data for 20 normal subjects ( M age = 23.6 yr., SD = 0.2). Faces with three basic emotional expressions (fear, happiness, and sadness from the 1976 Ekman and Friesen database), with three semantically anomalous expressions (with respect to their emotional content), and the neutral stimuli (face without an emotional content) were presented in a random order. Differences in peak amplitude of ERP were observed later for anomalous expressions compared with congruous expressions. In fact, the results demonstrated that the emotional anomalous faces elicited a higher negative peak at about 360 msec., distributed mainly over the posterior sites. The observed electrophysiological activity may represent specific cognitive processing underlying the comprehension of facial expressions in detection of semantic anomaly. The evidence is in favour of comparability of this negative deflection with the N400 ERP effect elicited by linguistic anomalies.

ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF CONGRUENT AND INCONGRUENT STIMULUS IN STROOP TASK, USING EVENT-RELATED POTENTIALS (ERP) IN PATIENTS WITH DEPRESSION

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (05) ◽  
pp. 1850034
Author(s):  
Yeganeh Shahsavar ◽  
Majid Ghoshuni
Keyword(s):  
Stroop Task ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Peak Time ◽  
Eeg Signals ◽  
Incongruent Stimulus ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Recording Channel ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Impact

The main goal of this event-related potentials (ERPs) study was to assess the effects of stimulations in Stroop task in brain activities of patients with different degrees of depression. Eighteen patients (10 males, with the mean age [Formula: see text]) were asked to fill out Beck’s depression questionnaire. Electroencephalographic (EEG) signals of subjects were recorded in three channels (Pz, Cz, and Fz) during Stroop test. This test entailed 360 stimulations, which included 120 congruent, 120 incongruent, and 120 neutral stimulations. To analyze the data, 18 time features in each type of stimulus were extracted from the ERP components and the optimal features were selected. The correlation between the subjects’ scores in Beck’s depression questionnaires and the extracted time features in each recording channel was calculated in order to select the best features. Total area, and peak-to-peak time window in the Cz channel in both the congruent and incongruent stimulus showed significant correlation with Beck scores, with [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], respectively. Consequently, given the correlation between time features and the subjects’ Beck scores with different degrees of depression, it can be interpreted that in case of growth in degrees of depression, stimulations involving congruent images would produce more challenging interferences for the patients compared to incongruent stimulations which can be more effective in diagnosing the level of disorder.

Abnormal Neural Basis of Emotional Conflict Control in Treatment-Resistant Depression

2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Song Xue ◽  
Shanshan Wang ◽  
Xia Kong ◽  
Jiang Qiu
Keyword(s):  
Stroop Task ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Frontal Region ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Treatment Resistant Depression ◽  
Treatment Resistant ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Emotional Conflict ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Resistant Depression

Emotional conflict has received increased attention as a research topic. The objective of this study is to confirm that the processing of emotional conflict is impaired in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). We compared the event-related potentials of 17 patients with TRD and 17 healthy controls during the face-word Stroop task, which is an effective way of assessing the effects of emotional conflict directly. Compared with healthy controls, the accuracy scores of the TRD patients were lower in both “congruent stimuli” and “incongruent stimuli” conditions, and their response times were longer. The TRD patients also had larger N2 amplitudes over the frontal region, regardless of stimulus condition, which might reflect that TRD patients pay more attention to emotional information. A larger P3 amplitude over the frontal region for “incongruent stimuli minus congruent stimuli” was also found among patients with TRD, which indicates interference effects in the Stroop task. The results of this study provide novel behavioral and neurophysiological evidence of anomalies in cognitive inhibition among patients with TRD using the word-face task. These findings not only improve our understanding of deficient inhibition in TRD, but also pave the way for a cognitive neuropsychiatric model of depression.

scholarly journals Expect the unexpected: Processing of sensory information in the anticipation of predictable and unpredictable threats

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-115
Author(s):  
Eva Koderman
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Information ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Perceived Threat ◽  
Subject Design ◽  
Unpleasant Picture ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Attentional Engagement ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Threat Of Shock

Abstract Anxiety is characterized by a sustained state of heightened vigilance due to uncertain danger, producing increased attention to a perceived threat in one's environment. To further examine this exploited the temporal resolution afforded by event-related potentials to investigate the impact of predictability of threat on early perceptual activity. We recruited 28 participants and utilized a within-subject design to examine hypervigilance in anticipation of shock, unpleasant picture and unpleasant sound during a task with unpredictable, predictable and no threat. We investigated if habituation to stimuli was present by asking the participants to rate unpleasantness and intensity of the stimuli before and after the experiment. We observed hypervigilance in the unpredictable threat of shock. Habituation was observed for the visual stimuli. The present study suggests that unpredictability enhances attentional engagement with neutral somatosensory stimuli when the threat is of the same modality, meaning we observed the presence of hypervigilance which is a characteristic of anxiety.

scholarly journals Error-Monitoring is Modulated by School Pedagogy

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Solange Denervaud ◽  
Jean-François Knebel ◽  
Emeline Mullier ◽  
Patric Hagmann ◽  
Micah M. Murray
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Recognition Task ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Error Monitoring ◽  
Traditional Curriculum ◽  
Source Estimation ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
School Pedagogy ◽  
The Impact

Within an inherently dynamic environment, unexpected outcomes are part of daily life. Performance monitoring allows us to detect these events and adjust behavior accordingly. The necessity of such an optimal functioning has made error-monitoring a prominent topic of research over the last decades. Event-related potentials (ERPs) have differentiated between two brain components involved in error-monitoring: the error-related negativity (ERN) and error-related positivity (Pe) that are thought to reflect detection vs. emotional/motivational processing of errors, respectively. Both ERN and Pe depend on the protracted maturation of the frontal cortices and anterior cingulate through adolescence. To our knowledge, the impact of schooling pedagogy on error-monitoring and its brain mechanisms remains unknown and was the focus of the present study. Swiss schoolchildren completed a continuous recognition task while 64-channel EEG was recorded and later analyzed within an electrical neuroimaging framework. They were enrolled either in a Montessori curriculum (N=13), consisting of self-directed learning through trial-and-error activities with sensory materials, or a traditional curriculum (N=14), focused on externally driven activities mainly based on reward feedback. The two groups were controlled for age, gender, socio-economic status, parental educational style, and scores of fluid intelligence. The ERN was significantly enhanced in Montessori schoolchildren (driven by a larger response to errors), with source estimation differences localized to the cuneus and precuneus. In contrast, the Pe was enhanced in traditional schoolchildren (driven by a larger response to correct trials), with source estimation differences localized to the ventral anterior cingulate. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis demonstrated that the ERN and Pe could reliably classify if a child was following a Montessori or traditional curriculum. Brain activity subserving error-monitoring is modulated differently according to school pedagogy.

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