| |
Abstract:
Abstract: Facial expressions are outward manifestations of
internal emotional states. Evidence suggests that the processing of
faces with emotional expressions is carried out by a neural system
separate from that used to identify faces alone. The present study
was conducted using a 122-channel whole-head magnetoencephalography
(MEG) system to investigate the neural processing of briefly
presented images of human faces. The faces shown modelled either
happy, disgusted, or neutral expressions. Equiluminant scrambled
faces derived from each of the other sets were used as a control.
Subjects responded with a button press to indicate if the
presentation stimuli either did or did not show emotion. Data
analyses were based on averaged responses to repeated stimuli in
each condition, and used the method of magnetic source imaging
(MSI) to determine the locations and strengths of responses to the
different conditions in eight subjects. Data analysis demonstrated
a unique face-specific source at the fusiform gyrus at a mean
latency of 163 ms associated with the presentation of all faces,
and a significantly greater source strength for the happy faces at
this location and latency. The results indicate that the first
face-specific source in inferior temporal lobe is sensitive to the
affective content of the face, and the implications of this are
discussed.
|
