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Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotion Regulation
Published on: August 26, 2011
Modulation of facial reactions to avatar emotional faces by nonconscious competition priming
Peter Weyers1, Andreas Mühlberger, Anja Kund
1Department of Psychology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany. weyers@psychologie.uni-wuerzburg.de
Abstract:
To investigate whether subliminally priming for competition influences facial reactions to facial emotional displays, 49 participants were either subliminally competition primed or neutrally primed. Thereafter, they viewed computer generated avatar faces with happy, neutral, and sad expressions while Corrugator supercilii and Zygomaticus major reactions were recorded. Results revealed facial mimicry to happy and sad faces in the neutrally primed group but not the competition primed group. Furthermore, subliminal competition priming enhanced Corrugator supercilii activity after an initial relaxation while viewing happy faces. An impression formation task revealed counter empathic effects confirming successful competition priming. Overall, results indicate that nonconscious processes influence a presumably nonconscious behavior.
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