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Neural processing of emotional faces requires attention.
L Pessoa1, M McKenna, E Gutierrez
1Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health, Building 10, Room 4C104, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. pessoa@ln.nimh.nih.gov
Summary
Emotional faces activate brain regions only when attention is available, challenging the idea of automatic processing. This suggests top-down control over facial expression perception.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Visual Processing
Background:
- Emotional stimuli are thought to automatically activate brain regions, bypassing attentional control.
- Attention typically gates sensory processing early in the visual cortex.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether the processing of emotional facial expressions is automatic or attention-dependent.
- To resolve the conflict between automatic emotional processing theories and attentional gating mechanisms.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure brain activation.
- Participants viewed faces with emotional (fearful, happy) and neutral expressions.
- Attentional load was manipulated using a competing task.
Main Results:
- Brain regions, including the amygdala, showed differential activation to emotional faces.
- This activation was contingent on sufficient attentional resources.
- Emotional face processing was absent under high attentional load.
Conclusions:
- The processing of facial expressions, even emotional ones, is not automatic.
- Top-down attentional control modulates the neural response to emotional faces.
- Existing data suggesting automatic emotional processing may need re-evaluation.