scholarly journals The Relationship Between Early and Recent Life Stress and Emotional Expression Processing—A Functional Connectivity Study

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrzej Sokołowski ◽  
Monika Folkierska-Żukowska ◽  
Katarzyna Jednoróg ◽  
Craig A. Moodie ◽  
Wojciech Ł. Dragan
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Clinical Group ◽  
Neural Activation ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Cumulative Stress ◽  
Face Area ◽  
Effects Of Stress

The aim of this study was to characterize neural activation during the processing of negative facial expressions in a non-clinical group of individuals who experienced only early life stress, only recent life stress, both, or neither. Two models of stress consequences were investigated: the match/mismatch and cumulative stress models. The match/mismatch model assumes that early adversities may promote optimal coping with similar events in the future through fostering the development of coping strategies. The cumulative stress model assumes that effects of stress are additive, regardless of the timing of the stressors. Previous studies have suggested that stress can have both cumulative and match/mismatch effects on brain structure and functioning and, consequently, we hypothesized that effects on brain circuitry would be found for both models. We anticipated effects on the neural circuitry of structures engaged in face perception and emotional processing and, hence, the amygdala, fusiform face area, occipital face area, and posterior superior temporal sulcus were selected as seeds for seed-based functional connectivity analyses. We found that both the interaction between early and recent life stress, as well as cumulative stress levels, were related to alterations in functional connectivity during emotional facial expressions processing. This study adds to the growing body of literature suggesting that both the cumulative and the match/mismatch hypotheses are useful in explaining the effects of stress on humans.

Neural correlates of perception of emotional facial expressions in out-patients with mild-to-moderate depression and anxiety. A multicenter fMRI study

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (11) ◽  
pp. 2253-2264 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. R. Demenescu ◽  
R. Renken ◽  
R. Kortekaas ◽  
M.-J. van Tol ◽  
J. B. C. Marsman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anxiety Disorders ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Neural Activation ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Emotional Faces ◽  
Depressed Patients

BackgroundDepression has been associated with limbic hyperactivation and frontal hypoactivation in response to negative facial stimuli. Anxiety disorders have also been associated with increased activation of emotional structures such as the amygdala and insula. This study examined to what extent activation of brain regions involved in perception of emotional faces is specific to depression and anxiety disorders in a large community-based sample of out-patients.MethodAn event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm was used including angry, fearful, sad, happy and neutral facial expressions. One hundred and eighty-two out-patients (59 depressed, 57 anxiety and 66 co-morbid depression-anxiety) and 56 healthy controls selected from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA) were included in the present study. Whole-brain analyses were conducted. The temporal profile of amygdala activation was also investigated.ResultsFacial expressions activated the amygdala and fusiform gyrus in depressed patients with or without anxiety and in healthy controls, relative to scrambled faces, but this was less evident in patients with anxiety disorders. The response shape of the amygdala did not differ between groups. Depressed patients showed dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) hyperactivation in response to happy faces compared to healthy controls.ConclusionsWe suggest that stronger frontal activation to happy faces in depressed patients may reflect increased demands on effortful emotion regulation processes triggered by mood-incongruent stimuli. The lack of strong differences in neural activation to negative emotional faces, relative to healthy controls, may be characteristic of the mild-to-moderate severity of illness in this sample and may be indicative of a certain cognitive-emotional processing reserve.

An Exploratory TMS Study on Prefrontal Lateralization in Valence Categorization of Facial Expressions

2017 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 282-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Ferrari ◽  
Lucile Gamond ◽  
Marcello Gallucci ◽  
Tomaso Vecchi ◽  
Zaira Cattaneo
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Control Site ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Left Dlpfc ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Right

Abstract. Converging neuroimaging and patient data suggest that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is involved in emotional processing. However, it is still not clear whether the DLPFC in the left and right hemisphere is differentially involved in emotion recognition depending on the emotion considered. Here we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to shed light on the possible causal role of the left and right DLPFC in encoding valence of positive and negative emotional facial expressions. Participants were required to indicate whether a series of faces displayed a positive or negative expression, while TMS was delivered over the right DLPFC, the left DLPFC, and a control site (vertex). Interfering with activity in both the left and right DLPFC delayed valence categorization (compared to control stimulation) to a similar extent irrespective of emotion type. Overall, we failed to demonstrate any valence-related lateralization in the DLPFC by using TMS. Possible methodological limitations are discussed.

scholarly journals Early life stress is associated with reduced avoidance of threatening facial expressions

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 1059-1067 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth J. Kirkham ◽  
Liat Levita
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Social Cognition ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Early Life Stress ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Adult Participants ◽  
Approach Avoidance ◽  
Avoidance Responses

AbstractEarly neglect or maltreatment has been associated with changes in children's processing of emotional facial expressions, including a hypersensitivity to the emotion of anger. This may facilitate the avoidance of danger in a maltreating environment. However, few studies have examined whether experiences of early life stress (ELS) are associated with atypical avoidance responses towards emotional facial expressions, or whether the effects of ELS can be observed in adult participants. The present study therefore examined the effects of ELS on adults’ approach-avoidance tendencies towards angry, happy, and neutral facial expressions. Surprisingly, higher levels of ELS were associated with reduced avoidance of angry facial expressions among individuals with no evidence of mental illness. In contrast, there was no evidence of a relationship between ELS and avoidance of angry facial expressions among individuals with experience of mental illness. These novel findings suggest that ELS-related changes in social cognition can be observed years after the ELS itself occurred.

scholarly journals Examining the visual screening patterns of emotional facial expressions with gender, age and lateralization

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Banu Cangöz ◽  
Arif Altun ◽  
Petek Aşkar ◽  
Zeynel Baran ◽  
Sacide Güzin Mazman
Keyword(s):  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Fixation Duration ◽  
Hemispheric Lateralization ◽  
Emotional Expressions ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Face Area ◽  
The Face ◽  
Visual Screening ◽  
Emotional Face

The main objective of the study is to investigate the effects of age of model, gender of observer, and lateralization on visual screening patterns while looking at the emotional facial expressions. Data were collected through eye tracking methodology. The areas of interests were set to include eyes, nose and mouth. The selected eye metrics were first fixation duration, fixation duration and fixation count. Those eye tracking metrics were recorded for different emotional expressions (sad, happy, neutral), and conditions (the age of model, part of face and lateralization). The results revealed that participants looked at the older faces shorter in time and fixated their gaze less compared to the younger faces. This study also showed that when participants were asked to passively look at the face expressions, eyes were important areas in determining sadness and happiness, whereas eyes and noise were important in determining neutral expression. The longest fixated face area was on eyes for both young and old models. Lastly, hemispheric lateralization hypothesis regarding emotional face process was supported.

scholarly journals Neural Activation during Covert Processing of Positive Emotional Facial Expressions

NeuroImage ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 194-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.J. Dolan ◽  
P. Fletcher ◽  
J. Morris ◽  
N. Kapur ◽  
J.F.W. Deakin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Neural Activation ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions

scholarly journals Neurocognitive Effects of Preceding Facial Expressions on Perception of Subsequent Emotions

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shin Ah Kim ◽  
Sang Hee Kim
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Emotional Valence ◽  
Emotional Intensity ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Intensity Rating ◽  
The Right

In everyday life, individuals successively and simultaneously encounter multiple stimuli that are emotionally incongruent. Emotional incongruence elicited by preceding stimuli may alter emotional experience with ongoing stimuli. However, the underlying neural mechanisms of the modulatory influence of preceding emotional stimuli on subsequent emotional processing remain unclear. In this study, we examined self-reported and neural responses to negative and neutral pictures whose emotional valence was incongruent with that of preceding images of facial expressions. Twenty-five healthy participants performed an emotional intensity rating task inside a brain scanner. Pictures of negative and neutral scenes appeared, each of which was preceded by a pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant facial expression to elicit a degree of emotional incongruence. Behavioral results showed that emotional incongruence based on preceding facial expressions did not influence ratings of subsequent pictures’ emotional intensity. On the other hand, neuroimaging results revealed greater activation of the right dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) in response to pictures that were more emotionally incongruent with preceding facial expressions. The dmPFC had stronger functional connectivity with the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) during the presentation of negative pictures that followed pleasant facial expressions compared to those that followed unpleasant facial expressions. Interestingly, increased functional connectivity of the dmPFC was associated with the reduced modulatory influence of emotional incongruence on the experienced intensity of negative emotions. These results indicate that functional connectivity of the dmPFC contributes to the resolution of emotional incongruence, reducing the emotion modulation effect of preceding information on subsequent emotional processes.

Exploring an Emotional Basis of Cognitive Control in the Flanker Task

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Motonori Yamaguchi ◽  
Jack Dylan Moore ◽  
Sarah Hendry ◽  
Felicity Wolohan
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Mood Induction ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Emotional Stimuli ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Flanker Effect ◽  
Sequential Modulation ◽  
Emotional Basis ◽  
Negative Stimuli

The emotional basis of cognitive control has been investigated in the flanker task with various procedures and materials across different studies. The present study examined the issue with the same flanker task but with different types of emotional stimuli and design. In seven experiments, the flanker effect and its sequential modulation according to the preceding trial type were assessed. Experiments 1 and 2 used affective pictures and emotional facial expressions as emotional stimuli, and positive and negative stimuli were intermixed. There was little evidence that emotional stimuli influenced cognitive control. Experiments 3 and 4 used the same affective pictures and facial expressions, but positive and negative stimuli were separated between different participant groups. Emotional stimuli reduced the flanker effect as well as its sequential modulation regardless of valence. Experiments 5 and 6 used affective pictures but manipulated arousal and valence of stimuli orthogonally The results did not replicate the reduced flanker effect or sequential modulation by valence, nor did they show consistent effects of arousal. Experiment 7 used a mood induction technique and showed that sequential modulation was positively correlated with valence rating (the higher the more positive) but was negatively correlated with arousal rating. These results are inconsistent with several previous findings and are difficult to reconcile within a single theoretical framework, confirming an elusive nature of the emotional basis of cognitive control in the flanker task.

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