Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Over the Right Temporal Parietal Junction Facilitates Spontaneous Micro-Expression Recognition

Abstract

Micro-expressions are fleeting and subtle emotional expressions. As they are spontaneous and uncontrollable by one’s mind, micro-expressions are considered an indicator of genuine emotions. Their accurate recognition and interpretation promote interpersonal interaction and social communication. Therefore, enhancing the ability to recognize micro-expressions has captured much attention. In the current study, we investigated the effects of training on micro-expression recognition with a Chinese version of the Micro-Expression Training Tool (METT). Our goal was to confirm whether the recognition accuracy of spontaneous micro-expressions could be improved through training and brain stimulation. Since the right temporal parietal junction (rTPJ) has been shown to be involved in the explicit process of facial emotion recognition, we hypothesized that the rTPJ would play a role in facilitating the recognition of micro-expressions. The results showed that anodal transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) of the rTPJ indeed improved the recognition of spontaneous micro-expressions, especially for those associated with fear. The improved accuracy of recognizing fear spontaneous micro-expressions was positively correlated with personal distress in the anodal group but not in the sham group. Our study supports that the combined use of tDCS and METT can be a viable way to train and enhance micro-expression recognition.