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Updated: Jun 25, 2026
Investigations on Alterations of Hippocampal Circuit Function Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
Published on: November 19, 2012
Electrophysiological correlates of emotional face processing after mild traumatic brain injury in preschool children
Fabien D'Hondt1,2,3,4, Maryse Lassonde1,2,3, Fanny Thebault-Dagher1,2,3
1Département de Psychologie, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal, Québec, Canada, H3C 3J7.
Insights
Children with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) show altered processing of emotional facial expressions. This impacts early socioemotional development and social competence in preschool years.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Childhood mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is linked to social skill deficits.
- The neural and affective basis of these social difficulties, particularly in emotional expression perception, remains unclear.
- The preschool period is crucial for developing emotional perception abilities vital for social interaction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the electrophysiological correlates of emotional facial expression processing in preschool children following early mTBI.
- To compare event-related potentials (ERPs) associated with facial emotion perception between children with mTBI and healthy controls.
Main Methods:
- 18 preschool children with mTBI and 15 healthy controls (ages 53-55 months) participated.
- Participants viewed images of angry, happy, and neutral facial expressions.
- Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during the task.
Main Results:
- Healthy controls showed distinct patterns: higher P1 amplitude for happy vs. angry faces and shorter N170 latency for emotional vs. neutral faces.
- Children with mTBI did not exhibit these typical early electrophysiological responses to emotional faces.
- This indicates differences in visuospatial and visual expertise processing stages for emotional stimuli.
Conclusions:
- Preschool children with mTBI demonstrate altered processing of emotional facial expressions compared to healthy peers.
- These findings highlight the impact of early mTBI on socioemotional processing, affecting abilities crucial for social competence.
- Early mTBI may disrupt the development of neural mechanisms underlying the perception of social cues.
Abstract:
Evidence suggests that social skills are affected by childhood mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), but the neural and affective substrates of these difficulties are still underexplored. In particular, nothing is known about consequences on the perception of emotional facial expressions, despite its critical role in social interactions and the importance of the preschool period in the development of this ability. This study thus aimed to investigate the electrophysiological correlates of emotional facial expressions processing after early mTBI. To this end, 18 preschool children (mean age 53 ± 8 months) who sustained mTBI and 15 matched healthy controls (mean age 55 ± 11 months) were presented with pictures of faces expressing anger, happiness, or no emotion (neutral) while event-related potentials (ERP) were recorded. The main results revealed that P1 amplitude was higher for happy faces than for angry faces, and that N170 latency was shorter for emotional faces than for neutral faces in the control group only. These findings suggest that preschool children who sustain mTBI do not present the early emotional effects that are observed in healthy preschool children at visuospatial and visual expertise stages. This study provides new evidence regarding the consequences of childhood mTBI on socioemotional processing, by showing alterations of emotional facial expressions processing, an ability known to underlie social competence and appropriate social interactions.
