Something always sticks? how emotional language modulates neural processes involved in face encoding and recognition memory

AbstractLanguage can serve to constrain cognitive and emotional representations. Here, we investigate to what extent linguistic emotional information alters processing of faces with neutral expressions. Previous studies have shown that cortical processing of emotional faces differs from that of neutral faces. Electroencephalography (EEG) has revealed emotion effects for early and late event-related potentials (ERPs) such as the N1, the Early Posterior Negativity (EPN) and the Late Positive Potential (LPP). In order to study the effect of language information on face processing, 30 negative and 30 neutral descriptive phrases were presented, each followed by a neutral expression face. Participants were instructed to remember the association. We analyzed the immediate effect of information type on face processing during encoding as well as delayed effects during subsequent recognition. During encoding, faces following negative language information elicited a larger left frontal positivity between 500–700 ms after stimulus onset. During recognition, a left centro-parietal LPP was likewise increased for faces previously associated with a negative description. In addition, the parietal old/new effect was significantly increased for faces with negative information compared to new ones, while no significant effect was observed for faces with neutral information. No information effects on early perceptual ERPs (N1, EPN) were found. Reaction times (RTs) for source memory decisions (negative versus neutral) were significantly shorter for faces with negative versus neutral information. In sum, ERP results indicate that emotional significance can be linguistically induced in faces on a cortical level and, at least in an explicit memory task, this information modulates later stages of face processing and memory. Implications for cognitive effects of public media design are discussed.

Download Full-text

Duration Estimation of Angry and Neutral Faces: Behavioral and Electrophysiological Correlates

Timing & Time Perception ◽

10.1163/22134468-bja10020 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (3-4) ◽

pp. 254-278

Author(s):

Lisa V. Eberhardt ◽

Ferdinand Pittino ◽

Anna Scheins ◽

Anke Huckauf ◽

Markus Kiefer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Emotional Processing ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Stimulus Onset ◽

Emotional Stimuli ◽

Information Processing Model ◽

Emotional Faces ◽

Early Posterior Negativity ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Stimulus Offset ◽

Duration Estimation

Abstract Emotional stimuli like emotional faces have been frequently shown to be temporally overestimated compared to neutral ones. This effect has been commonly explained by induced arousal caused by emotional processing leading to the acceleration of an inner-clock-like pacemaker. However, there are some studies reporting contradictory effects and others point to relevant moderating variables. Given this controversy, we aimed at investigating the processes underlying the temporal overestimation of emotional faces by combining behavioral and electrophysiological correlates in a temporal bisection task. We assessed duration estimation of angry and neutral faces using anchor durations of 400 ms and 1600 ms while recording event-related potentials. Subjective ratings and the early posterior negativity confirmed encoding and processing of stimuli’s emotionality. However, temporal ratings did not differ between angry and neutral faces. In line with this behavioral result, the Contingent Negative Variation (CNV), an electrophysiological index of temporal accumulation, was not modulated by the faces’ emotionality. Duration estimates, i.e., short or long responses toward stimuli of ambiguous durations of 1000 ms, were nevertheless associated with a differential CNV amplitude. Interestingly, CNV modulation was already observed at 600–700 ms after stimulus onset, i.e., long before stimulus offset. The results are discussed in light of the information-processing model of time perception as well as regarding possible factors of the experimental setup moderating temporal overestimation of emotional stimuli. In sum, combining behavioral and electrophysiological measures seems promising to more clearly understand the complex processes leading to the illusion of temporal lengthening of emotional faces.

Download Full-text

The effect of empathy and context on face-processing ERPs

10.31234/osf.io/ns3wt ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Gillian M Clark ◽

Claire McNeel ◽

Felicity J Bigelow ◽

Peter Gregory Enticott

Keyword(s):

Face Processing ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Background Information ◽

Early Posterior Negativity ◽

Empathy Quotient ◽

The Face ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Processing Event ◽

Harm To Others ◽

Face Stimuli

The investigation of emotional face processing has largely used faces devoid of context, and does not account for within-perceiver differences in empathy. The importance of context in face perception has become apparent in recent years. This study examined the interaction of the contextual factors of facial expression, knowledge of a person’s character, and within-perceiver empathy levels on face processing event-related potentials (ERPs). Forty-two adult participants learned background information about six individuals’ character. Three types of character were described, in which the character was depicted as deliberately causing harm to others, accidentally causing harm to others, or undertaking neutral actions. Subsequently, EEG was recorded while participants viewed the characters’ faces displaying neutral or emotional expressions. Participants’ empathy was assessed using the Empathy Quotient survey. Results showed a significant interaction of character type and empathy on the early posterior negativity (EPN) ERP component. These results suggested that for those with either low or high empathy, more attention was paid to the face stimuli, with more distinction between the different characters. In contrast, those in the middle range of empathy tended to produce smaller EPN with less distinction between character types. Findings highlight the importance of trait empathy in accounting for how faces in context are perceived.

Download Full-text

Neurophysiological Correlates of the Dunning-Kruger Effect

10.1101/2019.12.26.888511 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Alana Muller ◽

Lindsey A. Sirianni ◽

Richard J. Addante

Keyword(s):

Episodic Memory ◽

Cognitive Processes ◽

Response Times ◽

Memory Task ◽

Reaction Times ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Metacognitive Judgments ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Novel Method ◽

Better Than

Abstract.The Dunning-Kruger Effect (DKE) is a metacognitive phenomenon of illusory superiority in which individuals who perform poorly on a task believe they performed better than others, yet individuals who performed very well believe they under-performed compared to others. This phenomenon has yet to be directly explored in episodic memory, nor explored for reaction times or physiological correlates. We designed a novel method to elicit the DKE via a test of item recognition while electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded. Throughout the task, participants were asked to estimate the percentile in which they performed compared to others. Results revealed participants in the bottom 25th percentile overestimated their percentile, while participants in the top 75th percentile underestimated their percentile, exhibiting the classic DKE. Reaction time measures revealed a condition x group interaction whereby over-estimators responded faster than under-estimators when estimating being in the top percentile and responded slower when estimating being in the bottom percentile.Between-group EEG differences were evident between over-estimators and under-estimators during Dunning-Kruger responses, which revealed FN400-like effects of familiarity supporting differences for over-estimators from 400-600 ms, whereas ‘old-new’ memory ERP effects revealed a late parietal component (LPC) associated with recollection-based processing from 600-900 ms for under-estimators that was not evident for over-estimators. Findings suggest over- and under-estimators use differing cognitive processes when assessing their performance, such that under-estimators rely on recollection during memory and over-estimators draw upon excess familiarity when over-estimating their performance. Episodic memory thus appears to play a contributory role in metacognitive judgments of illusory superiority and inferiority.Graphical AbstractEvent-related potentials (ERPS) were recorded for the Dunning-Kruger Effect as subjects made metacognitive judgments about performance on a memory task. Over- and Under-estimators exhibited a crossover interaction in response times when believing they did best and worst, respectively. A crossover pattern was also observed for ERPs: LPC signals of recollection were found for under-estimators, whereas familiarity-based FN400 effects were evident for over-estimators and correlated with estimates.

Download Full-text

Distinguishing TBI Malingering and Fatigue Using Event-Related Potentials

Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1027/0269-8803/a000248 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 34 (4) ◽

pp. 203-213

Author(s):

Lindsey K. Robinson ◽

Sandra L. McFadden

Keyword(s):

Short Term Memory ◽

Behavioral Outcomes ◽

Memory Task ◽

Reaction Times ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Expected Performance ◽

Lower Accuracy ◽

Related Potentials ◽

History Of

Abstract. Poorer-than-expected performance on cognitive-behavioral tasks may indicate malingering, or it could be an outcome of fatigue, resulting in false positives when suboptimal task performance is used to flag individuals feigning or exaggerating symptoms of traumatic brain injury (TBI). The primary goal of this study was to examine the P3 event-related potentials (ERP) and behavioral outcomes associated with TBI malingering and fatigue, in order to distinguish between them. A secondary goal was to determine if history of TBI (hTBI) is associated with differences in fatigue, ERPs, or performance on a short-term memory task. Participants completed the Mental Fatigue and Related Symptoms (SR-MF) questionnaire and were interviewed to assess TBI history, then they completed a computerized “old/new” (match-mismatch) task while ERPs were recorded, under three conditions: Normal, Malinger, and Fatigue. Participants reported mild fatigue at the end of study, with no difference between individuals reporting a history of TBI ( n = 32) and healthy controls ( n = 47). Fatigue was associated with prolonged P3 latency but was otherwise indistinguishable from Normal. In contrast, Malinger was clearly distinguished from Normal by significantly lower accuracy, longer reaction times, reduced P3 amplitude on Match trials, and a smaller old/new ERP effect. Individuals with a history of TBI reported clinical levels of fatigue at baseline but did not differ significantly from healthy controls on any behavioral or ERP measure. The results support the use of behavioral and ERP measures to identify malingering, without concern over confounding effects of mild subjective fatigue, including mild fatigue induced by testing.

Download Full-text

Face and Word Recognition in Patients with Left and Right Hemispheric Lesions: Evidence from Reaction Times and ERPs

Zeitschrift für Neuropsychologie ◽

10.1024//1016-264x.13.1.69 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 69-83 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Stefan R. Schweinberger ◽

Thomas Klos ◽

Werner Sommer

Keyword(s):

Slow Wave ◽

Reaction Times ◽

Memory Search ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Performance Deficits ◽

Set Size ◽

Left Brain ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Abstract Words ◽

Left Brain Damage

Abstract: We recorded reaction times (RTs) and event-related potentials (ERPs) in patients with unilateral lesions during a memory search task. Participants memorized faces or abstract words, which were then recognized among new ones. The RT deficit found in patients with left brain damage (LBD) for words increased with memory set size, suggesting that their problem relates to memory search. In contrast, the RT deficit found in patients with RBD for faces was apparently related to perceptual encoding, a conclusion also supported by their reduced P100 ERP component. A late slow wave (720-1720 ms) was enhanced in patients, particularly to words in patients with LBD, and to faces in patients with RBD. Thus, the slow wave was largest in the conditions with most pronounced performance deficits, suggesting that it reflects deficit-related resource recruitment.

Download Full-text

Orienting and Focusing in Voluntary and Involuntary Visuospatial Attention Conditions

Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1027/0269-8803/a000010 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 24 (3) ◽

pp. 198-209 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Yan Wang ◽

Jianhui Wu ◽

Shimin Fu ◽

Yuejia Luo

Keyword(s):

Gain Control ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Stimulus Onset ◽

Orientation Discrimination ◽

Involuntary Attention ◽

Attention Condition ◽

Voluntary Attention ◽

Visual Spatial ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Underlying Mechanisms

In the present study, we used event-related potentials (ERPs) and behavioral measurements in a peripherally cued line-orientation discrimination task to investigate the underlying mechanisms of orienting and focusing in voluntary and involuntary attention conditions. Informative peripheral cue (75% valid) with long stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) was used in the voluntary attention condition; uninformative peripheral cue (50% valid) with short SOA was used in the involuntary attention condition. Both orienting and focusing were affected by attention type. Results for attention orienting in the voluntary attention condition confirmed the “sensory gain control theory,” as attention enhanced the amplitude of the early ERP components, P1 and N1, without latency changes. In the involuntary attention condition, compared with invalid trials, targets in the valid trials elicited larger and later contralateral P1 components, and smaller and later contralateral N1 components. Furthermore, but only in the voluntary attention condition, targets in the valid trials elicited larger N2 and P3 components than in the invalid trials. Attention focusing in the involuntary attention condition resulted in larger P1 components elicited by targets in small-cue trials compared to large-cue trials, whereas in the voluntary attention condition, larger P1 components were elicited by targets in large-cue trials than in small-cue trials. There was no interaction between orienting and focusing. These results suggest that orienting and focusing of visual-spatial attention are deployed independently regardless of attention type. In addition, the present results provide evidence of dissociation between voluntary and involuntary attention during the same task.

Download Full-text

Consciousness of attention and expectancy as reflected in event-related potentials and reaction times.

Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition ◽

10.1037/0278-7393.16.5.902 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 16 (5) ◽

pp. 902-915 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

Werner Sommer ◽

Juliana Matt ◽

Hartmut Leuthold

Keyword(s):

Reaction Times ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Related Potentials

Download Full-text

Charged With a Crime: The Neuronal Signature of Processing Negatively Evaluated Faces Under Different Attentional Conditions

Psychological Science ◽

10.1177/0956797621996667 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 095679762199666

Author(s):

Sebastian Schindler ◽

Maximilian Bruchmann ◽

Claudia Krasowski ◽

Robert Moeck ◽

Thomas Straube

Keyword(s):

Event Related Potentials ◽

Emotional Information ◽

Early Posterior Negativity ◽

Information Studies ◽

The Face ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Feature Based ◽

Human Faces ◽

Emotional Knowledge ◽

Late Stages

Our brains rapidly respond to human faces and can differentiate between many identities, retrieving rich semantic emotional-knowledge information. Studies provide a mixed picture of how such information affects event-related potentials (ERPs). We systematically examined the effect of feature-based attention on ERP modulations to briefly presented faces of individuals associated with a crime. The tasks required participants ( N = 40 adults) to discriminate the orientation of lines overlaid onto the face, the age of the face, or emotional information associated with the face. Negative faces amplified the N170 ERP component during all tasks, whereas the early posterior negativity (EPN) and late positive potential (LPP) components were increased only when the emotional information was attended to. These findings suggest that during early configural analyses (N170), evaluative information potentiates face processing regardless of feature-based attention. During intermediate, only partially resource-dependent, processing stages (EPN) and late stages of elaborate stimulus processing (LPP), attention to the acquired emotional information is necessary for amplified processing of negatively evaluated faces.

Download Full-text