The brain frequency tuning function for facial emotion discrimination: An ssVEP study

Abstract

Steady-state visual evoked potentials have only been applied recently to the study of face perception. We used this method to study the spatial and temporal dynamics of expression perception in the human brain and test the prediction that, as in the case of identity perception, the optimal frequency for facial expression would also be in the range of 5-6 Hz. We presented facial expressions at different flickering frequencies (2-8 Hz) to human observers while recording their brain electrical activity. Our modified adaptation paradigm contrasted blocks with varying expressions versus blocks with a constant neutral expression, while facial identity was kept constant. The presentation of different expressions created a larger steady-state response only at 5 Hz, corresponding to a cycle of 200 ms, over right occipito-temporal electrodes. Source localization using a time-domain analysis showed that the effect localized to the right occipito-temporal cortex, including the superior temporal sulcus and fusiform gyrus.

Implicit responses to face trustworthiness measured with fast periodic visual stimulation

“…Similarities in the processing of face trustworthiness and emotional expressions have previously been noted in studies using ERPs ( Dzhelyova et al, 2012 ; Marzi et al, 2014 ; Rudoy & Paller, 2009 ; Yang et al, 2011 ) and in a meta-analysis of fMRI studies ( Mende-Siedlecki et al, 2013 ). Although several studies have used FPVS to investigate responses to emotional facial expressions ( Dzhelyova, Jacques, & Rossion, 2017 ; Gerlicher, Loon, Scholte, Lamme, & van der Leij, 2014 ; Zhu, Alonso-Prieto, Handy, & Barton, 2016 ), none of them have directly compared angry versus happy expressions. However, one of these studies did find spatially distinct responses to oddball faces with disgust, fear, and happy expressions, with more similar responses for the disgust and fear expressions ( Dzhelyova et al, 2017 ).…”

The power of rhythms: how steady-state evoked responses reveal early neurocognitive development

“…A major application of the SS-EP technique has focused on high-level vision, by presenting participants with a high-frequency periodic stream of visual stimuli in which high-level content is periodically modulated at a lower frequency. For example, the neural underpinnings of face identification can be isolated by modulating high-level features such as facial identity or facial expression ( Rossion and Boremanse, 2011 ; Zhu et al, 2016 ). The fast-periodic oddball paradigm (described in section 3.1 ) can be used to directly tag the contrasting categorical response between two sets of stimuli, using a single stimulation stream.…”

Processing of Affective Pictures: A Study Based on Functional Connectivity Network in the Cerebral Cortex

“…Cortical spatial brain network connection differences and cortical source response differences are of great significance to better understand the processing of different emotions and improve the accuracy of emotion recognition based on EEG signals. In this work, with the help of stable state visual evoked potential's (SSVEP) good time resolution (time-locked and phaselocked characteristics) and high signal-to-noise ratio, we utilized the source location method to reconstruct the cerebral cortex signal [14].…”