Perceived arousal of facial expressions of emotion modulates the N170, regardless of emotional category: Time domain and time-frequency dynamics

摘要

Findings concerning the emotional modulation of the N170 component of the visual event-related potential are mixed. In the present report we tested the hypothesis that the emotional modulation of the N170 may be driven by the perceived emotional arousal of the stimuli, rather than by specific emotional categories. Fifty-four participants viewed facial expressions of anger, disgust, fear and happiness, plus low arousal neutral faces. All emotional categories were matched in arousal, while stimuli within each category varied parametrically in this dimension. The modulation of the electrocortical activity on the N170 time-window was analyzed in the time domain and via time-frequency decomposition. The effects of emotion and arousal were analyzed separately.