The spatiotemporal characteristics of the distributed network during emotional face perception

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event The spatiotemporal characteristics of the distributed network during emotional face perception Yu-Han Chen1*, Jürgen Dammers1, Frank Boers1, Susanne Leiberg2 and Klaus Mathiak1 1 University Hospital Aachen, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Germany 2 University of Zurich, Center for the Study of Social and Neural Systems, Switzerland The neural process of emotional face encoding is a complex interconnected network. This study applied MEG and Magnetic Field Tomography (MFT) to explore the dynamics of the neural network during emotional face perception. Thirteen subjects participated in the study. Emotional faces (disgust, happy, neutral) were randomly presented for 1000 ms and participants were asked to press a button whenever the facial expressions were the same as in the previous image (one-back task). Group statistics of MFT solutions from 0 to 600 ms post-stimulus were analyzed in SPM5 for 3 contrasts (disgust vs. happy, disgust vs. neutral, happy vs. neutral). Time courses of significant brain activations were extracted. For all contrasts, early activity started to emerge in caudal structures such as primary visual cortex (0-200ms), to fusiform area (FFA), insula, and supplemental motor area (SMA) (200-300 ms), and finally to more rostral areas such as inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and middle frontal gyrus (MFG) (300-600ms). Interestingly, increased FFA activation was only observed in emotional vs. non-emotional faces, but not between the emotional faces. The later responses (>300 ms) in prefrontal area were observed stronger in disgust than happy faces. The emotional modulation of brain activation in response to faces showed a sequential pattern from primary visual cortex, to tempo-parietal cortex, and connected to the frontal cortex across different latencies. Early activation in primary sensory cortices reflects the sensory encoding of faces, and the later activations in temporal and frontal area may reflect emotional classification. Our results demonstrate the temporal profile of different structures engaged in emotion face processes. Emotional valence or arousal may modulate face processing at all levels in a dynamic fashion. Conceivably only higher-order cortical areas such as medio-frontal structures are differentially influenced by the valence of emotion. Conference: Biomag 2010 - 17th International Conference on Biomagnetism , Dubrovnik, Croatia, 28 Mar - 1 Apr, 2010. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Neurocognition and Functional Connectivity Citation: Chen Y, Dammers J, Boers F, Leiberg S and Mathiak K (2010). The spatiotemporal characteristics of the distributed network during emotional face perception. Front. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: Biomag 2010 - 17th International Conference on Biomagnetism . doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2010.06.00320 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: 06 Apr 2010; Published Online: 06 Apr 2010. * Correspondence: Yu-Han Chen, University Hospital Aachen, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Aachen, Germany, yuhanmc@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 Yu-Han Chen Jürgen Dammers Frank Boers Susanne Leiberg Klaus Mathiak Google Yu-Han Chen Jürgen Dammers Frank Boers Susanne Leiberg Klaus Mathiak Google Scholar Yu-Han Chen Jürgen Dammers Frank Boers Susanne Leiberg Klaus Mathiak PubMed Yu-Han Chen Jürgen Dammers Frank Boers Susanne Leiberg Klaus Mathiak 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.