Interaction between Facial Expression and Color in Modulating ERP P3

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Visual Perception
• Human Computer Interaction

Background:

• Facial expressions and colors influence cognitive functions like perception and memory.
• The impact of combined facial expression and color on selective attention and associated brain activity remains largely unexplored.
• Previous research suggests reddish hues amplify emotional intensity of angry faces, but direct evidence on attention and neural correlates is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how facial expression and color interact to modulate selective attention and brain activity.
• To determine if event-related potentials (ERPs) differ based on combined facial expressions (angry, neutral) and colors (original, red, green).
• To explore the cognitive processing stages affected by the interplay of facial cues and color.

Main Methods:

• Electroencephalography (EEG) was used to record brain activity.
• An oddball task paradigm was employed, presenting standard and rare target face stimuli.
• Stimuli varied in facial expression (angry, neutral) and color (original, red, green).

Main Results:

• The P3 event-related potential amplitude was significantly modulated by the interaction of facial expression and color.
• Red angry faces elicited greater P3 amplitudes compared to red neutral faces, indicating enhanced selective attention.
• Facial expression primarily affected the N170 amplitude, while P1 amplitudes were not significantly influenced by expression or color interactions.

Conclusions:

• The interaction between facial expression and color modulates the P3 component, which is associated with selective attention.
• This interaction enhances cognitive processing at a later stage than individual processing of facial color or expression.
• Findings support the hypothesis that red color amplifies human responses to anger, as evidenced by EEG data.