Emotion Separation Is Completed Early and It Depends on Visual Field Presentation

It is now apparent that the visual system reacts to stimuli very fast, with many brain areas activated within 100 ms. It is, however, unclear how much detail is extracted about stimulus properties in the early stages of visual processing. Here, using magnetoencephalography we show that the visual system separates different facial expressions of emotion well within 100 ms after image onset, and that this separation is processed differently depending on where in the visual field the stimulus is presented. Seven right-handed males participated in a face affect recognition experiment in which they viewed happy, fearful and neutral faces. Blocks of images were shown either at the center or in one of the four quadrants of the visual field. For centrally presented faces, the emotions were separated fast, first in the right superior temporal sulcus (STS; 35–48 ms), followed by the right amygdala (57–64 ms) and medial pre-frontal cortex (83–96 ms). For faces presented in the periphery, the emotions were separated first in the ipsilateral amygdala and contralateral STS. We conclude that amygdala and STS likely play a different role in early visual processing, recruiting distinct neural networks for action: the amygdala alerts sub-cortical centers for appropriate autonomic system response for fight or flight decisions, while the STS facilitates more cognitive appraisal of situations and links appropriate cortical sites together. It is then likely that different problems may arise when either network fails to initiate or function properly

The role of peripheral vision in implicit contextual cuing

Implicit contextual cuing refers to the ability to learn the association between contextual information of our environment and a specific target, which can be used to guide attention during visual search. It was recently suggested that the storage of a snapshot image of the local context of a target underlies implicit contextual cuing. To make such a snapshot, it is necessary to use peripheral vision. In order to test whether peripheral vision can underlie implicit contextual cuing, we used a covert visual search task, in which participants were required to indicate the orientation of a target stimulus while foveating a fixation cross. The response times were shorter when the configuration of the stimuli was repeated than when the configuration was new. Importantly, this effect was still found after 10 days, indicating that peripherally perceived spatial context information can be stored in memory for long periods of time. These results indicate that peripheral vision can be used to make a snapshot of the local context of a targetThis research was supported by a grant from the BIAL Foundation (No. 73/06) and the FCT (SFRH/BPD/22088/2005

Analytical methods and experimental approaches for electrophysiological studies of brain oscillations

Brain oscillations are increasingly the subject of electrophysiological studies probing their role in the functioning and dysfunction of the human brain. In recent years this research area has seen rapid and significant changes in the experimental approaches and analysis methods. This article reviews these developments and provides a structured overview of experimental approaches, spectral analysis techniques and methods to establish relationships between brain oscillations and behaviour

Specific components of face perception in the human fusiform gyrus studied by tomographic estimates of magnetoencephalographic signals: a tool for the evaluation of non-verbal communication in psychosomatic paradigms)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Aims</p> <p>The aim of this study was to determine the specific spatiotemporal activation patterns of face perception in the fusiform gyrus (FG). The FG is a key area in the specialized brain system that makes possible the recognition of face with ease and speed in our daily life. Characterization of FG response provides a quantitative method for evaluating the fundamental functions that contribute to non-verbal communication in various psychosomatic paradigms.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The MEG signal was recorded during passive visual stimulus presentation with three stimulus types – Faces, Hands and Shoes. The stimuli were presented separately to the central and peripheral visual fields. We performed statistical parametric mapping (SPM) analysis of tomographic estimates of activity to compare activity between a pre- and post-stimulus period in the same object (baseline test), and activity between objects (active test). The time course of regional activation curves was analyzed for each stimulus condition.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The SPM baseline test revealed a response to each stimulus type, which was very compact at the initial segment of main M_FG170. For hands and shoes the area of significant change remains compact. For faces the area expanded widely within a few milliseconds and its boundaries engulfed the other object areas. The active test demonstrated that activity for faces was significantly larger than the activity for hands. The same face specific compact area as in the baseline test was identified, and then again expanded widely. For each stimulus type and presentation in each one of the visual fields locations, the analysis of the time course of FG activity identified three components in the FG: M_FG100, M_FG170, and M_FG200 – all showed preference for faces.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Early compact face-specific activity in the FG expands widely along the occipito-ventral brain within a few milliseconds. The significant difference between faces and the other object stimuli in M_FG100 shows that processing of faces is already differentiated from processing of other objects within 100 ms. Standardization of the three face-specific MEG components could have diagnostic value for the integrity of the initial process of non-verbal communication in various psychosomatic paradigms.</p

Fearful faces modulate spatial processing in peripersonal space: An ERP study

Peripersonal space (PPS) represents the region of space surrounding the body. A pivotal function of PPS is to coordinate defensive responses to threat. We have previously shown that a centrally-presented, looming fearful face, signalling a potential threat in one's surroundings, modulates spatial processing by promoting a redirection of sensory resources away from the face towards the periphery, where the threat may be expected – but only when the face is presented in near, rather than far space. Here, we use electrophysiological measures to investigate the neural mechanism underlying this effect. Participants made simple responses to tactile stimuli delivered on the cheeks, while watching task-irrelevant neutral or fearful avatar faces, looming towards them either in near or far space. Simultaneously with the tactile stimulation, a ball with a checkerboard pattern (probe) appeared to the left or right of the avatar face. Crucially, this probe could either be close to the avatar face, and thus more central in the participant's vision, or further away from the avatar face, and thus more peripheral in the participant's vision. Electroencephalography was continuously recorded. Behavioural results confirmed that in near space only, and for fearful relative to neutral faces, tactile processing was facilitated by the peripheral compared to the central probe. This behavioural effect was accompanied by a reduction of the N1 mean amplitude elicited by the peripheral probe for fearful relative to neutral faces. Moreover, the faster the participants responded to tactile stimuli with the peripheral probe, relative to the central, the smaller was their N1. Together these results, suggest that fearful faces intruding into PPS may increase expectation of a visual event occurring in the periphery. This fear-induced effect would enhance the defensive function of PPS when it is most needed, i.e., when the source of threat is nearby, but its location remains unknown

Change blindness: eradication of gestalt strategies

Arrays of eight, texture-defined rectangles were used as stimuli in a one-shot change blindness (CB) task where there was a 50% chance that one rectangle would change orientation between two successive presentations separated by an interval. CB was eliminated by cueing the target rectangle in the first stimulus, reduced by cueing in the interval and unaffected by cueing in the second presentation. This supports the idea that a representation was formed that persisted through the interval before being 'overwritten' by the second presentation (Landman et al, 2003 Vision Research 43149–164]. Another possibility is that participants used some kind of grouping or Gestalt strategy. To test this we changed the spatial position of the rectangles in the second presentation by shifting them along imaginary spokes (by ±1 degree) emanating from the central fixation point. There was no significant difference seen in performance between this and the standard task [F(1,4)=2.565, p=0.185]. This may suggest two things: (i) Gestalt grouping is not used as a strategy in these tasks, and (ii) it gives further weight to the argument that objects may be stored and retrieved from a pre-attentional store during this task

Top-down effects on early visual processing in humans: a predictive coding framework

An increasing number of human electroencephalography (EEG) studies examining the earliest component of the visual evoked potential, the so-called C1, have cast doubts on the previously prevalent notion that this component is impermeable to top-down effects. This article reviews the original studies that (i) described the C1, (ii) linked it to primary visual cortex (V1) activity, and (iii) suggested that its electrophysiological characteristics are exclusively determined by low-level stimulus attributes, particularly the spatial position of the stimulus within the visual field. We then describe conflicting evidence from animal studies and human neuroimaging experiments and provide an overview of recent EEG and magnetoencephalography (MEG) work showing that initial V1 activity in humans may be strongly modulated by higher-level cognitive factors. Finally, we formulate a theoretical framework for understanding top-down effects on early visual processing in terms of predictive coding

The spatial logic of fear

Peripersonal space (PPS) is the multimodal sensorimotor representation of the space surrounding the body. This thesis investigates how PPS is modulated by emotional faces, which represent particularly salient cue in our environment. Study 1 shows that looming neutral, joyful, and angry faces gradually facilitate motor responses to tactile stimuli. Conversely, looming fearful faces show no such effect. Also, at the closest position in PPS, multisensory response facilitation is lower for fearful than neutral faces. Study 2a addresses the hypothesis that fearful faces promote a redirection of attention towards the peripheral space. In line with this, it shows that motor responses to tactile stimuli are facilitated when a looming fearful face is associated with the appearance of a visual element presented in the periphery, rather than close to the face. Also, this effect is found in near space and not in far space. This result suggests that a near looming fearful face elicits a redirection of attention to the peripheral space. Such effect is not found for neutral, joyful, or angry faces (Study 2b). Study 3 shows that the redirection of attention in PPS by fearful faces is accompanied by a modulation of the electrophysiological signal associated with face processing (N170). Finally, Study 4 shows that the skin conductance response to looming fearful, but not joyful or neutral faces, is modulated by the distance of the face from participants’ body, being maximal in the near space. Together these studies show that, at variance with other emotions, fearful faces shift attention to other portions of space - than that of the face - where the threat may be located. It is argued that this fear-evoked redirection of attention may enhance the defensive function of PPS, when most needed, i.e., when the source of threat is nearby, but its location remains unknown