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Functional neuroanatomy of perceiving surprised faces
Ulrike Schroeder1, Andreas Hennenlotter, Peter Erhard
1Department of Neurology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, München, Germany.
Human Brain Mapping
|September 28, 2004
Summary
Researchers used fMRI to study the brain regions involved in recognizing surprised facial expressions. They found that the parahippocampal region, linked to novelty detection, is activated when perceiving surprise.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroimaging
Background:
- Surprise is a fundamental emotion with a distinct facial expression.
- Previous research identified neural substrates for various facial expression perceptions, but not surprise.
- The neuroanatomy of surprise perception remained largely uninvestigated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify the neural substrate for perceiving surprised facial expressions using fMRI.
- To test the hypothesis that novelty detection structures are involved in surprise perception.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed on healthy subjects.
- Participants viewed facial expressions of surprise, neutral, and disgust.
- Brain activations were analyzed by contrasting emotional conditions against neutral controls.
Main Results:
- Perception of surprised faces consistently activated the parahippocampal region.
- This region is known for its role in novelty detection.
- Activation of the insula was confirmed for disgust perception.
Conclusions:
- Perceiving surprise in others is closely related to the brain's response to novel events.
- The parahippocampal region plays a key role in the neuroanatomy of surprise perception.
- Findings contribute to understanding the neural basis of emotion recognition.