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Why are you looking like that? How the context influences evaluation and processing of human faces

Please always quote using this URN: urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-132126
  • Perception and evaluation of facial expressions are known to be heavily modulated by emotional features of contextual information. Such contextual effects, however, might also be driven by non-emotional aspects of contextual information, an interaction of emotional and non-emotional factors, and by the observers’ inherent traits. Therefore, we sought to assess whether contextual information about self-reference in addition to information about valence influences the evaluation and neural processing of neutral faces. Furthermore, we investigatedPerception and evaluation of facial expressions are known to be heavily modulated by emotional features of contextual information. Such contextual effects, however, might also be driven by non-emotional aspects of contextual information, an interaction of emotional and non-emotional factors, and by the observers’ inherent traits. Therefore, we sought to assess whether contextual information about self-reference in addition to information about valence influences the evaluation and neural processing of neutral faces. Furthermore, we investigated whether social anxiety moderates these effects. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, participants viewed neutral facial expressions preceded by a contextual sentence conveying either positive or negative evaluations about the participant or about somebody else. Contextual influences were reflected in rating and fMRI measures, with strong effects of self-reference on brain activity in the medial prefrontal cortex and right fusiform gyrus. Additionally, social anxiety strongly affected the response to faces conveying negative, self-related evaluations as revealed by the participants’ rating patterns and brain activity in cortical midline structures and regions of interest in the left and right middle frontal gyrus. These results suggest that face perception and processing are highly individual processes influenced by emotional and non-emotional aspects of contextual information and further modulated by individual personality traits.show moreshow less

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Metadaten
Author: Katharina A. Schwarz, Matthias J. Wieser, Antje B. M. Gerdes, Andreas Mühlberger, Paul Pauli
URN:urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-132126
Document Type:Journal article
Faculties:Fakultät für Humanwissenschaften (Philos., Psycho., Erziehungs- u. Gesell.-Wissensch.) / Institut für Psychologie
Language:English
Parent Title (English):Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
Year of Completion:2013
Volume:8
Issue:4
Pagenumber:438-445
Source:SCAN (2013) 8, 438-445. doi:10.1093/scan/nss013
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nss013
Dewey Decimal Classification:1 Philosophie und Psychologie / 15 Psychologie / 150 Psychologie
Tag:context; facial expression; self-reference; social anxiety
Release Date:2016/06/11
Licence (German):License LogoCC BY-NC: Creative-Commons-Lizenz: Namensnennung, Nicht kommerziell