Faces In Individuals Research Articles

Effect of Partnership Status on Preferences for Facial Self-Resemblance.

Self-resemblance has been found to have a context-dependent effect when expressing preferences for faces. Whereas dissimilarity preference during mate choice in animals is often explained as an evolutionary adaptation to increase heterozygosity of offspring, self-resemblance can be also favored in humans, reflecting, e.g., preference for kinship cues. We performed two studies, using transformations of facial photographs to manipulate levels of resemblance with the rater, to examine the influence of self-resemblance in single vs. coupled individuals. Raters assessed facial attractiveness of other-sex and same-sex photographs according to both short-term and long-term relationship contexts. We found a preference for dissimilarity of other-sex and same-sex faces in single individuals, but no effect of self-resemblance in coupled raters. No effect of sex of participant or short-term vs. long-term attractiveness rating was observed. The results support the evolutionary interpretation that dissimilarity of other-sex faces is preferred by uncoupled individuals as an adaptive mechanism to avoid inbreeding. In contrast, lower dissimilarity preference of other-sex faces in coupled individuals may reflect suppressed attention to attractiveness cues in potential alternative partners as a relationship maintenance mechanism, and its substitution by attention to cues of kinship and psychological similarity connected with greater likelihood of prosocial behavior acquisition from such persons.

Attention Bias to Emotional Faces Varies by IQ and Anxiety in Williams Syndrome.

Individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) often experience significant anxiety. A promising approach to anxiety intervention has emerged from cognitive studies of attention bias to threat. To investigate the utility of this intervention in WS, this study examined attention bias to happy and angry faces in individuals with WS (N=46). Results showed a significant difference in attention bias patterns as a function of IQ and anxiety. Individuals with higher IQ or higher anxiety showed a significant bias toward angry, but not happy faces, whereas individuals with lower IQ or lower anxiety showed the opposite pattern. These results suggest that attention bias interventions to modify a threat bias may be most effectively targeted to anxious individuals with WS with relatively high IQ.

Attentional biases to faces expressing disgust in children with autism spectrum disorders: an exploratory study.

Previous studies on attentional bias towards emotional faces in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) provided mixed results. This might be due to differences in the examined attentional bias components and emotional expressions. This study assessed three bias components, hypervigilance, disengagement, and avoidance, using faces with a disgust, happy, or neutral expression in a dot-probe and external cuing task in 18 children with ASD and 21 typically developing (TD) children. The children with ASD initially displayed hypervigilance towards the disgust faces, followed by a general tendency to avoid looking back at the spatial location at which any face, irrespective of its emotional expression, had been presented. These results highlight the importance of differentiating between attentional bias components in research on ASD.

The Importance of Networking in Autism Gaze Analysis.

Visual scanning of faces in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been intensively studied using eye-tracking technology. However, most of studies have relied on the same analytic approach based on the quantification of fixation time, which may have failed to reveal some important features of the scanning strategies employed by individuals with ASD. In the present study, we examined the scanning of faces in a group of 20 preschoolers with ASD and their typically developing (TD) peers, using both classical fixation time approach and a new developed approach based on transition matrices and network analysis. We found between group differences in the eye region in terms of fixation time, with increased right eye fixation time for the ASD group and increased left eye fixation time for the TD group. Our complementary network approach revealed that the left eye might play the role of an anchor in the scanning strategies of TD children but not in that of children with ASD. In ASD, fixation time on the different facial parts was almost exclusively dependent on exploratory activity. Our study highlights the importance of developing innovative measures that bear the potential of revealing new properties of the scanning strategies employed by individuals with ASD.

Altered Dynamics of the fMRI Response to Faces in Individuals with Autism

Abnormal fMRI habituation in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) has been proposed as a critical component in social impairment. This study investigated habituation to fearful faces and houses in ASD and whether fMRI measures of brain activity discriminate between ASD and typically developing (TD) controls. Two identical fMRI runs presenting masked fearful faces, houses, and scrambled images were collected. We found significantly slower fMRI responses to fearful faces but not houses in ASD. In addition, the pattern of slow to emerge amygdala activation to faces had robust discriminability [ASD vs. TD; area under the curve (AUC) = .852, p < .001]. In contrast, habituation to houses had no predictive value (AUC = .573, p = .365). Amygdala habituation to emotional faces may be useful for quantifying risk in ASD.

Behavioral and neural correlates of visual emotion discrimination and empathy in mild cognitive impairment

Emotional and social cognitive deficits were investigated in a group of 24 individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 24 healthy controls. Empathic and visual emotional responses were collected, analyzed and correlated to brain structural imaging data by means of: (i) a pictorial matching-to-sample task with facial and non-facial stimuli; (ii) self-reported questionnaires for cognitive and affective emotional components, and alexithymia; (iii) in-depth assessment of cognitive functions. Results indicated that visual processing of faces in MCI individuals did not benefit from fearful emotional content which in healthy controls facilitates stimulus’ recognition (emotional enhancement effect). This implicit visuo-emotional disorder was specific for the faces, did not generalize to other categories, and did not correlate to explicit measures of empathy. Thus, our main finding indicates that in MCI individuals, deficits in visual recognition of facial emotions may arise already in the earliest stages of memorization, during the visual encoding of facial emotions. Voxel-based morphometry revealed its association with atrophy in frontal and occipito-temporal regions, mostly involving the anterior medial prefrontal cortex (P<0.05, multiple-comparison correction). Neural evidences were corroborated by clinical scores showing significant correlation between reduction of Emotion Enhancement Effect and deficits in frontal/executive functions. Crucially, the disorder did not appear to be related to the number of impaired cognitive domains (single or multiple-domain MCI) but rather to the involvement of frontal brain networks and frontal/executive functions. This suggests that in prodromal stages of dementia, frontal symptoms may represent a significant signal of emotional recognition disorders.

Eye movements during visual search for emotional faces in individuals with chronic headache.

Attentional biases for pain-related information have been frequently reported in individuals with chronic pain. Recording of participants' eye movements provides a continuous measure of attention, although to date this methodology has received little use in research exploring attentional biases in chronic pain. The aim of the current investigation was to explore the specificity of attentional orienting bias using a novel visual search task while recording participant eye movement behaviours. This also allowed for the investigation of whether attentional biases for pain-related information exist in the presence of multiple stimuli competing for attention. Twenty-three participants with chronic headache and 24 pain-free, healthy control participants were engaged in a visual search task where pain, angry, happy and neutral faces were used as both target and distractor stimuli. While completing this task, participants' eye movements were recorded. Supporting the adopted hypothesis, participants with chronic headache, relative to healthy controls, demonstrated a significantly higher proportion of initial fixations to target pain expressions when the pain expressions were presented in displays containing neutral-distractor faces. No significant differences were found between groups in the time taken to fixate target pain expressions (localization time). Individuals with chronic headache show facilitated initial orienting towards pain expressions specifically when used as targets in a visual search task. This study adds to a growing body of research supporting the presence of pain-related attentional biases in chronic pain as assessed via different experimental paradigms, and shows biases to exist when multiple stimuli competing for attention are presented simultaneously.

Neurocognitive processing of emotion facial expressions in individuals with self-reported depressive symptoms: The role of personality and anxiety

Neurocognition may constitute one of the numerous factors that mediate the reciprocal influences between personality and depression. The present study explored the influence of personality and anxiety traits on the neurocognitive processing of emotional faces and specifically focused on personal characteristics related to negative (harm avoidance-HA) and positive affectivity (self-directedness-SD) and to anxiety. Twenty participants with self-reported depressive symptoms and 18 control participants were selected based on their BDI-II scores. Personality (TCI-R), anxiety and attention were measured and event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during an implicit emotional face perception task (fear, sadness, happiness, neutrality). The participants who self-reported depressive symptoms had higher HA, lower SD and higher anxiety compared to controls. Controls showed enhanced P300 and LPP amplitudes for fear. Individuals with self-reported depression showed reduced ERPs amplitudes for happiness. HA did not account for the difference between the groups but high HA and high anxiety were positively correlated with enhanced P300 amplitude for fear in participants with depressive symptoms. In contrast, SD accounted for the difference between the groups but was not correlated to the ERP components' amplitudes recorded for facial expressions. Other personality dimensions (reward dependence, cooperativeness) influenced the ERPs recorded for facial emotions. Personality dimensions influence the neurocognitive processing of emotional faces in individuals with self-reported depressive symptoms, which may constitute a cognitive vulnerability to depression.

Difficulty in disengaging attention from threatening facial expressions in anxiety: A new approach in terms of benefits

Background and objectivesRecent work suggests that the ability to disengage attention from threatening information is impaired in anxiety. The present study compared the difficulty to disengage from angry, fearful and neutral faces in Low Trait Anxious individuals (LTA) versus High Trait Anxious individuals (HTA) at two stages of facial expression processing (i.e., initial and later face processing). MethodsHTA and LTA individuals performed an attentional shifting task to assess attentional disengagement. Participants had to classify a peripheral target letter, appearing 200 or 500 ms after a face was displayed. ResultsLTA individuals were quicker when the letter appears after 500 ms compared to 200 ms regardless of the emotion of the face. An impaired disengagement in HTA individuals was observed for fearful and angry faces (i.e., no reaction differences between 200 and 500 ms) but not for neutral faces. These results suggest that it is particularly difficult for anxious individuals to switch attention from one stimulus to another if the engaged stimulus is a threatening face. LimitationsGeneralisation of our results is restricted to trait anxiety and emotional facial expression processing. ConclusionsLTA individuals can benefit from the emotional processing (i.e., from 200 to 500 ms) to make a rapid attentional shift and engagement to the target stimuli whereas HTA individuals did not and continue to process the threatening facial expression. These results also point out the role of top down processes on the regulation of disengagement from threatening information in anxiety.

Toddlers with Williams Syndrome Process Upright but not Inverted Faces Holistically

Holistic processing of upright, but not inverted, faces is a marker of perceptual expertise for faces. This pattern is shown by typically developing individuals beginning at age 7months. Williams syndrome (WS) is a rare neurogenetic developmental disorder characterized by extreme interest in faces from a very young age. Research on the effects of inversion on holistic processing of faces by older children and adults with WS has produced mixed results. Younger children with WS were not included in these previous studies. Using the habituation switch paradigm, we demonstrated that 15-35-month-olds with WS process upright, but not inverted, faces holistically. This study provides evidence of perceptual expertise for faces in individuals with WS early in life.

Threat perception predicts cognitive behavioral therapy outcomes in anxious children

Objective: Anxiety disorders of childhood are prevalent, debilitating conditions that do not always respond to existing treatments. Attentional biases towards threatening stimuli have been reported in anxious children and hypothesized to interfere with treatment response. Therefore, we examined such biases in children with anxiety disorders in relation to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) outcomes. Method: Thirty-eight children diagnosed with anxiety disorders in a specialized clinic (21 girls and 17 boys; age = 10.50 ± 1.11 years) and 36 unaffected community controls (19 girls and 17 boys; age = 10.20 ± 1.07 years) participated. Participants completed standardized questionnaire measures of anxiety and a probe position task (PPT) with facial cues. This task often reveals a response slowing effect related to threatening faces in vulnerable individuals. Children with anxiety disorders repeated these measures after completing CBT. Results: Groups did not differ in performance on the PPT, but angry/calm incongruent difference scores were significantly associated with self-reports of social anxiety and state anxiety. When controlling for pre-CBT anxiety levels, incongruent difference scores involving angry faces predicted post-CBT anxiety disorders index scores on the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children. PPT scores did not change significantly with CBT. Conclusions: Attentional bias towards threat on the PPT task may predict response to CBT and appears linked to social anxiety. Interventions to ameliorate this bias merit further study, as they might improve treatment outcomes for anxious, especially socially anxious, children.

P2-27: Electrophysiological Correlates of Conscious and Unconscious Processing of Emotional Faces in Individuals with High and Low Autistic Traits

P2-27: Electrophysiological Correlates of Conscious and Unconscious Processing of Emotional Faces in Individuals with High and Low Autistic Traits

Prefrontal cortical response to emotional faces in individuals with major depressive disorder in remission

Abnormalities in the response of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) to negative emotional stimuli have been reported in acutely depressed patients. However, there is a paucity of studies conducted in unmedicated individuals with major depressive disorder in remission (rMDD) to assess whether these are trait abnormalities. To address this issue, 19 medication-free rMDD individuals and 20 healthy comparison (HC) participants were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing an implicit emotion processing task in which they labeled the gender of faces depicting negative (fearful), positive (happy) and neutral facial expressions. The rMDD and HC groups were compared using a region-of-interest approach for two contrasts: fear vs. neutral and happy vs. neutral. Relative to HC, rMDD showed reduced activation in left OFC and DLPFC to fearful (vs. neutral) faces. Right DLPFC activation to fearful (vs. neutral) faces in the rMDD group showed a significant positive correlation with duration of euthymia. The findings support deficits in left OFC and DLPFC responses to negative emotional stimuli during euthymic periods of MDD, which may reflect trait markers of the illness or a ‘scar’ due to previous depression. Recovery may also be associated with compensatory increases in right DLPFC functioning.

Neural responses to emotional faces in women recovered from anorexia nervosa

Impairments in emotional processing have been associated with anorexia nervosa. However, it is unknown whether neural and behavioural differences in the processing of emotional stimuli persist following recovery. The aim of this study was to investigate the neural processing of emotional faces in individuals recovered from anorexia nervosa compared with healthy controls. Thirty-two participants (16 recovered anorexia nervosa, 16 healthy controls) underwent a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan. Participants viewed fearful and happy emotional faces and indicated the gender of the face presented. Whole brain analysis revealed no significant differences between the groups to the contrasts of fear versus happy and vice versa. Region of interest analysis demonstrated no significant differences in the neural response to happy or fearful stimuli between the groups in the amygdala or fusiform gyrus. These results suggest that processing of emotional faces may not be aberrant after recovery from anorexia nervosa.

Neural Correlates of Inverted Faces in Individuals with High and Low Autistic-Like Traits

Event Abstract Back to Event Neural Correlates of Inverted Faces in Individuals with High and Low Autistic-Like Traits Svjetlana Vukusic1*, David P. Crewther1, Joseph Ciorciari1 and Jordy Kaufman1 1 Swinburne University of Technology, Australia Faces are considered to be processed holistically rather than on the basis of features. The face inversion effect disrupts holistic processing through altering the configuration of facial features making the face more difficult to identify if presented inverted. Individuals with autism have difficulties in both face recognition and processing of emotional expressions. They usually show absent or reduced face-inversion effect. The aim of the current study is twofold: first, it tries to examine the interactions between encoding of structural face information and expression by presenting different facial expressions in upright and inverted orientations; and second, it investigates the relationship between neural responses to upright and inverted facial expressions and autistic-like traits in the general population by dividing subjects in those with high autistic-like traits (High AQ) and low autistic-like traits (Low AQ). We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) during a 1-back repetition task, with 14 High AQ (High AQ score > 19) and 15 Low AQ (Low AQ score < 12) subjects. The results for the face specific N170 showed that High AQ group in comparison to Low AQ group displayed decreased sensitivity to both face and house inversion. Emotional effects on the N170 component were not selective for any specific expression in both High and Low AQ, but in Low AQ group emotional effects interacted with face orientation. These results may suggest that the N170 effects reflect encoding of structural face information rather than processing of affective valence, and that differences found in High AQ may reflect differences in general visual information processing rather than in specific affective processing. Keywords: autism, autistic traits, Emotions, face inversion effect, face processing, EEG/ERP, N170 Conference: ACNS-2012 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Conference, Brisbane, Australia, 29 Nov - 2 Dec, 2012. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Emotion and Social Citation: Vukusic S, Crewther DP, Ciorciari J and Kaufman J (2012). Neural Correlates of Inverted Faces in Individuals with High and Low Autistic-Like Traits. Conference Abstract: ACNS-2012 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Conference. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2012.208.00166 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 Oct 2012; Published Online: 17 Nov 2012. * Correspondence: Ms. Svjetlana Vukusic, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia, s.vukusic@outlook.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 Svjetlana Vukusic David P Crewther Joseph Ciorciari Jordy Kaufman Google Svjetlana Vukusic David P Crewther Joseph Ciorciari Jordy Kaufman Google Scholar Svjetlana Vukusic David P Crewther Joseph Ciorciari Jordy Kaufman PubMed Svjetlana Vukusic David P Crewther Joseph Ciorciari Jordy Kaufman 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.

P-1291 - Semantic satiation of fearful faces in individuals with subclinical forms of delusions

The semantic satiation is defined as a subjective loss of access to the meaning of repeated stimuli. Previous researches revealed that in paranoid schizophrenia this effect occurs faster than in healthy controls, and could be responsible for problems linked with fear recognition. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether the semantic satiation effect could be the possible cognitive mechanism underlying the problems connected with fearful faces recognition in delusion - prone individuals. Two groups of students: individuals with high and low scores on Peters’ Delusion Inventory participated in the study. They were presented with photos of fearful, happy and neutral faces. In control conditions all photos were displayed 3 times, in experimental one - 30 times in order to evoke the effect of the loss of access to the meaning of the images. Participants’ task was to decide if the emotion displayed was named correctly. Within the group of individuals who scored high on the PDI the satiation of fearful faces was greater, than in the control group. Unlike them, individuals who scored low on PDI revealed the greater satiation effect related to happiness. Individuals with subclinical forms of delusions tend to loss the meaning of fear displayed by other people quicker than individuals who are not delusion - prone. The semantic satiation effect could be considered as a possible cause of difficulties in fear perception.

Heightened neural reactivity to threat in child victims of family violence

Summary Exposure to family violence affects a significant minority of children: estimates of physical abuse range from 4 to 16%, while intimate partner violence affects between 8 and 25% of children [1]. These maltreatment experiences represent a form of environmental stress that significantly increases risk of later psychopathology, including anxiety [1,2]. To date, no functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have probed the neural correlates of emotional processing in children exposed to family violence. Previous psychological and electrophysiological studies indicate a selective hypervigilance to angry cues in physically abused children, which is in turn associated with elevated levels of anxiety [3]. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research has demonstrated increased reactivity of the anterior insula (AI) and amygdala to angry faces in individuals with anxiety disorder [4], and in psychiatrically healthy soldiers exposed to combat [5], making these regions plausible neural candidates for adaptation to threat. We demonstrated that children exposed to family violence (with normative levels of anxiety) show increased AI and amygdala reactivity in response to angry but not sad faces. While such enhanced reactivity to a biologically salient threat cue may represent an adaptive response to sustained environmental danger, it may also constitute a latent neurobiological risk factor increasing vulnerability to psychopathology.

Acute Tryptophan Depletion Effects on the Vertex and Late Positive Potentials to Emotional Faces in Individuals with a Family History of Depression

Background: Depression, which is associated with dysfunctional serotonin (5-HT) activity, may be characterized by impaired emotional information processing. This study assessed the effects of acute tryptophan depletion (TRP–), which transiently lowers CNS 5-HT, on the emotion-sensitive vertex positive potential (VPP) and late positive potential (LPP) event-related potentials (ERPs) and mood in individuals with a family history of depression. The VPP and LPP are thought to index the early and later stages of motivated attentional processing, respectively. Method: Within a double-blind balanced design, ERPs were acquired in 18 individuals with a family history of depression (12 females) after TRP– and TRP+ (balanced) treatment while participants were presented with facial expressions (neutral, as well as sad, joy and surprise at 50 and 100% intensity) and responded to surprised faces. Results: TRP– increased total mood disturbance and maintained depression scores. The VPP and LPP were larger to intense versus mild expressions. Enhanced processing of emotional versus neutral faces, as indexed by the VPP, was primarily evident with TRP–. Speeded and enhanced processing of intensely joyful versus mildly sad faces was found with TRP– (VPP indexed). Compared with TRP+, TRP also increased the VPP to mildly joyful faces. Conclusion: Transient 5-HT decreases in individuals with a family history of depression induce subtle changes in early stages of motivated emotional processing, though not in later ones.

Neural processing of race by individuals with Williams syndrome: Do they show the other-race effect? (And why it matters)

Williams syndrome (WS)is a genetic condition with a distinctive social phenotype characterized by excessive sociability accompanied by a relative proficiency in face recognition, despite severe deficits in the visuospatial domain of cognition. This consistent phenotypic characteristic and the relative homogeneity of the WS genotype make WS a compelling human model for examining genotype–phenotype relations, especially with respect to social behavior. Following up on a recent report suggesting that individuals with WS do not show race bias and racial stereotyping, this study was designed to investigate the neural correlates of the perception of faces from different races, in individuals with WS as compared to typically developing (TD) controls. Caucasian WS and TD participants performed a gender identification task with own-race (White) and other-race (Black) faces while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. In line with previous studies with TD participants, other-race faces elicited larger amplitude ERPs within the first 200 ms following the face onset, in WS and TD participants alike. These results suggest that, just like their TD counterparts, individuals with WS differentially processed faces of own-race versus other-race, at relatively early stages of processing, starting as early as 115 ms after the face onset. Overall, these results indicate that neural processing of faces in individuals with WS is moderated by race at early perceptual stages, calling for a reconsideration of the previous claim that they are uniquely insensitive to race.

Dysfunctional distracter inhibition and facilitation for sad faces in depressed individuals

Depression is a commonly occurring mental disorder, which is characterized by dysfunctional inhibition and facilitation for emotional stimuli. The aim of the present study was to investigate distracter inhibition and facilitation for emotional faces in depressed individuals in a negative affective priming task. Control participants who had never suffered from depression (NC), sub-clinically depressed participants, and participants diagnosed with a current major depressive disorder (MDD), Anxiety Inventory, the Hamilton Depression Rating Score were recruited using the Beck Depression Inventory, the Beck and DSM-IV as tools. Twenty-four participants in each group completed a negative affective priming task. The main finding was that there were no significant differences among the three groups in the positive and negative priming effects of happy faces. However, there were significant differences for positive and negative priming effects of sad faces between each pair of groups, with the effects being lowest for MDD and highest for NC participants. It can be concluded that depressed individuals are characterized by enhanced facilitation and deficient inhibition for negative materials, which is a stable cognitive vulnerability risk, possibly associated with the occurrence of depression. There are differences in the cognitive dysfunction for negative stimuli between clinically depressed and sub-clinically depressed individuals.