Losing the feel for social judgements: Age-related physiological changes when evaluating the approachability of emotional faces

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Losing the feel for social judgements: Age-related physiological changes when evaluating the approachability of emotional faces Megan Willis1*, Christina Netscher1, Gill Terrett1 and Peter Rendell1 1 Australian Catholic University, Australia The ability to respond appropriately to facial expressions of emotion is critical for effective social communication. However, this capacity is understood to decline in later adulthood. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether this cognitive decline is associated with altered physiological responses when judging whether to approach or avoid another individual. Thirty older (60-89 years) and 30 younger (18-39 years) adults judged the approachability of a series of emotional faces (i.e., angry, disgusted, fearful, happy, sad and neutral). While completing the task, physiological responses were measured from the corrugator supercilii and zygomaticus major muscle sites using facial electromygraphy (EMG). As anticipated, older adults judged all faces as more approachable than younger adults, however an interaction revealed that this was particularly the case for angry, fearful and neutral faces. When judging approachability, unlike younger adults, older adults' corrugator activity did not distinguish between emotional faces. Whereas younger adults showed enhanced corrugator activity when judging the approachability of negatively valenced faces, older adults failed to show this pattern. These findings indicate that the cognitive declines observed in older adulthood are associated with changes in physiological responding to emotional faces when evaluating approachability. The findings have important implications for our understanding of the social decision-making capacity of older adults and their potential vulnerability for social exploitation. Keywords: Ageing, social cognition, approachability, facial expression recognition, facial electromography Conference: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 27 Jul - 31 Jul, 2014. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: Emotional and Social Processes Citation: Willis M, Netscher C, Terrett G and Rendell P (2015). Losing the feel for social judgements: Age-related physiological changes when evaluating the approachability of emotional faces. Conference Abstract: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.217.00353 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: 19 Feb 2015; Published Online: 24 Apr 2015. * Correspondence: Dr. Megan Willis, Australian Catholic University, Sydney, Australia, dr.megan.willis@gmail.com 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 Megan Willis Christina Netscher Gill Terrett Peter Rendell Google Megan Willis Christina Netscher Gill Terrett Peter Rendell Google Scholar Megan Willis Christina Netscher Gill Terrett Peter Rendell PubMed Megan Willis Christina Netscher Gill Terrett Peter Rendell 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.