Abstract
Some behavioral and neuroimaging studies suggest that adults prefer to view attractive faces of the opposite sex more than attractive faces of the same sex. However, unlike the other-race face effect (Caldara et al., 2004), little is known regarding the existence of an opposite-/same-sex bias in face processing. In this study, the faces of 130 attractive male and female adults were foveally presented to 40 heterosexual university students (20 men and 20 women) who were engaged in a secondary perceptual task (landscape detection). The automatic processing of face gender was investigated by recording ERPs from 128 scalp sites. Neural markers of opposite- vs. same-sex bias in face processing included larger and earlier centro–parietal N400s in response to faces of the opposite sex and a larger late positivity (LP) to same-sex faces. Analysis of intra-cortical neural generators (swLORETA) showed that facial processing-related (FG, BA37, BA20/21) and emotion-related brain areas (the right parahippocampal gyrus, BA35; uncus, BA36/38; and the cingulate gyrus, BA24) had higher activations in response to opposite- than same-sex faces. The results of this analysis, along with data obtained from ERP recordings, support the hypothesis that both genders process opposite-sex faces differently than same-sex faces. The data also suggest a hemispheric asymmetry in the processing of opposite-/same-sex faces, with the right hemisphere involved in processing same-sex faces and the left hemisphere involved in processing faces of the opposite sex. The data support previous literature suggesting a right lateralization for the representation of self-image and body awareness.
Highlights
Humans quickly process faces to identify conspecific features and adjust their behavior based on this identification, reacting differently to faces of the same/opposite sex, competitors/friends, and elderly/youngsters
Other studies have shown that the identification of opposite-sex faces is performed more quickly than identifying same-sex faces, regardless of facial expressions (Hofmann et al, 2006)
These results are consistent with the evolutionary hypothesis that suggests that individuals attend more strongly opposite-sex faces than to same-sex faces to facilitate the identification of potential mates
Summary
Humans quickly process faces to identify conspecific features and adjust their behavior based on this identification, reacting differently to faces of the same/opposite sex, competitors/friends, and elderly/youngsters. Studies based on psychological ratings (Perrett et al, 1998; Cornwell et al, 2004) and brain activation (Kranz and Ishai, 2006) have shown that individuals prefer to view attractive faces of the opposite sex compared to those of the same sex (Penton-Voak et al, 2001; Little et al, 2002; Rhodes, 2006) This bias may result from the fact that sexually dimorphic facial characteristics convey information about the quality of potential mates. Turk et al (2004) asked subjects to view pictures of men or women to be selected for a dinner date They observed a greater blood oxygenated level dependent response (BOLD) response for consequential decisions (oppositesex dates) compared to inconsequential decisions (same-sex dates) in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), the medial surface of the superior frontal gyrus or pre-SMA (BA 8) and two areas of the right ventral temporal cortex. Consistent with these findings, studies manipulating the pitch of voice recordings have found that raising the pitch of women’s voices (Feinberg et al, 2008) and lowering the pitch of men’s voices (Feinberg et al, 2005; Vukovic et al, 2008) increased vocal attractiveness
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