Electrophysiological correlates of spatial orienting towards angry faces: A source localization study

Abstract

The goal of this study was to examine behavioral and electrophysiological correlates of involuntary orienting toward rapidly presented angry faces in non-anxious, healthy adults using a dot-probe task in conjunction with high-density event-related potentials and a distributed source localization technique. Consistent with previous studies, participants showed hypervigilance toward angry faces, as indexed by facilitated response time for validly cued probes following angry faces and an enhanced P1 component. An opposite pattern was found for happy faces suggesting that attention was directed toward the relatively more threatening stimuli within the visual field (neutral faces). Source localization of the P1 effect for angry faces indicated increased activity within the anterior cingulate cortex, possibly reflecting conflict experienced during invalidly cued trials. No modulation of the early C1 component was found for affect or spatial attention. Furthermore, the face-sensitive N170 was not modulated by emotional expression. Results suggest that the earliest modulation of spatial attention by face stimuli is manifested in the P1 component, and provide insights about mechanisms underlying attentional orienting toward cues of threat and social disapproval. Keywords spatial attention; anger; face perception; event-related potentials; source localization Electrophysiological correlates of spatial orienting towards angry faces: A source localization studyPerception of the human face, as well as the social cues derived from it, is central to social interaction and in the communication of threat (Argyle, 1983), and occurs rapidly, within 100 ms of presentation (e.g., Liu, Harris, & Kanwisher, 2002). For healthy individuals, visual scanpaths of the human face are directed to salient features that define facial emotional expressions such as the mouth and eyes (Walker-Smith, Gale & Findlay, 1977;Mertens, Please address all correspondence to: Diego A. Pizzagalli, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Harvard University, 1220 William James Hall, 33 Kirkland Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA, Phone: +1-617-496-8896, Fax: +1-617-495-3728, Email: dap@wjh.harvard.edu. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.Disclosures Dr. Pizzagalli has received research support from GlaxoSmithKline and Merck & Co., Inc. for projects unrelated to the present study. Dr. Hofmann is a paid consultant by Organon for issues and projects unrelated to this study. Drs. Santesso and Meuret as well as Mr. Mueller, Ratner, and Roesch report no competing interests. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptNeurops...

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