Abstract
Event Abstract Back to Event Nonconscious emotional processing of pictures and videos involve distinct neural pathways Nathan Faivre1* and Sid Kouider1 1 CNRS, France Humans permanently adapt their behavior to facial expressions they encounter in their social environment. Using static stimuli (i.e., pictures), it has been shown that this adaptive phenomenon resists even when the facial expressions are undisriminable and thus processed without awareness. While the ecological superiority of dynamic emotional stimuli (i.e., movies) is now well documented, whether this applies to nonconscious cognition has remained uncovered. To probe the capacity of the visual system to process dynamic stimuli without awareness, we relied on visual crowding, the perceptual phenomenon whereby long-lasting stimuli situated in the periphery of the visual field among similar neighbors are impossible to discriminate. Using a behavioral priming paradigm, we found that participants exposed to crowded faces rated the pleasantness of a subsequent neutral target accordingly to the facial expressions' valence (happy vs. neutral). Using fMRI, we found that while static expressions activated the amygdala and the ventral visual pathway (notably the fusiform face area), dynamic expressions triggered the substantia innominata and the dorsal visual pathway (notably the posterior parietal cortex and supramarginal cortex). Furthermore, both static and dynamic facial expressions activated the hippocampus and the orbitofrontal cortex, suggesting respectively that the nonconscious preference bias may arise from implicit stimulus-response associations, and from modulations of aesthetic preference computations. On the one hand, these results bring new insights regarding the fate of crowded information along the visual pathways. On the other hand, they open the possibility to probe nonconscious form and motion integration, and more generally nonconscious temporal integration. Keywords: Awareness, fMRI Conference: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI), Palma, Mallorca, Spain, 25 Sep - 29 Sep, 2011. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Poster Sessions: Consciousness and Awareness Citation: Faivre N and Kouider S (2011). Nonconscious emotional processing of pictures and videos involve distinct neural pathways. Conference Abstract: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2011.207.00048 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: 15 Nov 2011; Published Online: 25 Nov 2011. * Correspondence: Dr. Nathan Faivre, CNRS, Paris, France, nathanfaivre@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 Nathan Faivre Sid Kouider Google Nathan Faivre Sid Kouider Google Scholar Nathan Faivre Sid Kouider PubMed Nathan Faivre Sid Kouider 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.
Highlights
ResultsFacial expressions are known to impact observers' behavior, even when they are not consciously identifiable
Using fMRI along with PPI analysis, we investigated the neural determinants of this nonconscious preference bias, either induced by static or dynamic facial expressions
Gaze Contingent Crowding (GCC) As soon as participants stared outside the fixation area, the peripheral prime was substituted by a neutral pattern
Summary
Facial expressions are known to impact observers' behavior, even when they are not consciously identifiable. We measured how participants exposed to happy vs neutral crowded faces rated the pleasantness of a subsequent neutral target. Using fMRI along with PPI analysis, we investigated the neural determinants of this nonconscious preference bias, either induced by static (i.e., pictures) or dynamic (i.e., videos) facial expressions. Gaze Contingent Crowding (GCC) As soon as participants stared outside the fixation area, the peripheral prime was substituted by a neutral pattern (neutral face). The stat/dyn crowded face was displayed for 1200 ms (2.6° spacing with flankers). In 3/4 trials, participants had to indicate whether the target displayed for 150 ms was pleasant or unpleasant. In 1/4 trials, they had to answer to a question concerning the facial expression. Only the fixation cross and 6 flankers were presented
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