Effects of attention to emotion-related or emotion-unrelated face features on face fusiform area activity: an EEG source analysis study

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Effects of attention to emotion-related or emotion-unrelated face features on face fusiform area activity: an EEG source analysis study Alberto Inuggi1*, Federica Sassi2, Alejandro Castillo2, Guillermo Campoy2 and Luis J. Fuentes2 1 Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL), Spain 2 Cognitive Neuroscience Lab. University of Murcia, Spain In the present study we used an emotional prime task to assess how attention and emotion modulate face fusiform area (BA37) activity, reconstructed with EEG source analysis. Faces with emotional (happy, angry) or neutral expressions were presented as primes and emotional laden words were presented as targets (prime-target SOA of 300 ms) for a valence task decision. Participants had to attend to the emotion expression (EMO) or to a non-emotion feature (wearing rounded vs. squared glasses, GRC) of a briefly presented prime face. The BA37 activity around the N170 peak was observed for all faces when attention was allocated to emotion information (EMO), irrespective of emotional expressions. For both happy and neutral faces BA37 activation was higher for the EMO group than for GCR group. However, for angry faces, BA37 activation was higher and did not differ between the two groups. These results suggest that only negative emotional expressions are processed automatically irrespective of where attention was allocated. Around 250 ms after target word onset, BA37 reactivated in all conditions and groups, but activation was higher in EMO compared to GRC irrespective of the emotional valence of words. Also, in the EMO group activation was higher for negative than for positive words. These results suggest that BA37 is also involved in off-line face processing, showing greater activation under attention-to-emotion conditions and for negative than positive emotional laden words. Keywords: Attention, EEG Conference: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI), Palma, Mallorca, Spain, 25 Sep - 29 Sep, 2011. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Poster Sessions: Neurophysiology of Cognition and Attention Citation: Inuggi A, Sassi F, Castillo A, Campoy G and Fuentes LJ (2011). Effects of attention to emotion-related or emotion-unrelated face features on face fusiform area activity: an EEG source analysis study. Conference Abstract: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2011.207.00312 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 22 Nov 2011; Published Online: 28 Nov 2011. * Correspondence: Dr. Alberto Inuggi, Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL), San Sebastian, Spain, lfuentes@um.es Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Alberto Inuggi Federica Sassi Alejandro Castillo Guillermo Campoy Luis J Fuentes Google Alberto Inuggi Federica Sassi Alejandro Castillo Guillermo Campoy Luis J Fuentes Google Scholar Alberto Inuggi Federica Sassi Alejandro Castillo Guillermo Campoy Luis J Fuentes PubMed Alberto Inuggi Federica Sassi Alejandro Castillo Guillermo Campoy Luis J Fuentes Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.