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Lai C, Pellicano GR, Ciacchella C, Guidobaldi L, Altavilla D, Cecchini M, Begotaraj E, Aceto P, Luciani M. Neurophysiological correlates of emotional face perception consciousness. Neuropsychologia 2020; 146:107554. [PMID: 32652090 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2019] [Revised: 05/27/2020] [Accepted: 07/03/2020] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Aim of the present study was to investigate the neurophysiologic correlates of the conscious and not conscious perception of faces (presented for 14, 40, 80 ms) with happy and sad emotional valence. Electroencephalographic data of 22 participants during a report-based visual task were recorded. Both happy and sad faces presented for 14 ms showed a longer N170 latency compared to the faces presented for 40 and 80 ms. A shorter latency of early components (before N170) was found in the right hemisphere and a longer latency in the left one in response to the happy faces presented for 14 ms compared to those presented for longer times. The faces presented for 14 ms, declared as consciously perceived, evoked a higher brain response compared to those declared as not perceived. Parietal and cingulate brain areas showed a lower intensity of the brain response to the consciously perceived faces in the early components. Happy faces showed a greater brain response when consciously detected, while the sad faces induced a greater brain response when not consciously detected. The findings suggest that the N170 may be the epiphenomenon of an earlier consciously detection. Moreover, these preliminary results seem to support a main role of parietal and cingulate brain areas into not conscious perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlo Lai
- Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via degli Apuli,1, 00185, Rome, Italy.
| | - Gaia Romana Pellicano
- Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via degli Apuli,1, 00185, Rome, Italy
| | - Chiara Ciacchella
- Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via degli Apuli,1, 00185, Rome, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Guidobaldi
- Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via degli Apuli,1, 00185, Rome, Italy
| | - Daniela Altavilla
- Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via degli Apuli,1, 00185, Rome, Italy
| | - Marco Cecchini
- Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via degli Apuli,1, 00185, Rome, Italy
| | - Edvaldo Begotaraj
- Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via degli Apuli,1, 00185, Rome, Italy
| | - Paola Aceto
- Department of Anesthesia, Emergency and Intensive Care Medicine, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Largo Francesco Vito, 1, 00168, Rome, Italy; Institute of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Francesco Vito, 1, 00168, Rome, Italy
| | - Massimiliano Luciani
- Department of Neuroscience, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Largo Francesco Vito, 1, 00168, Rome, Italy
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