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N170 Amplitude to Rare Neutral Faces in an Oddball Condition Reflects Prediction Error
Xinyang Liu1, Xueqiao Li1, Piia Astikainen1
1Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.
The European Journal of Neuroscience
|October 1, 2025
Summary
Visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) automatically detects changes in faces. The N170 component, not P1, showed prediction error for neutral faces, unaffected by depression but increasing with age.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Psychophysiology
Background:
- Visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) is linked to automatic change detection via predictive coding.
- Previous research on facial expression vMMN lacked control for stimulus probability and low-level visual features.
- Event-related potentials (ERPs) like P1 and N170 are used to study visual processing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate predictive deviance detection in facial expression processing using controlled ERPs.
- To examine the association between visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) and facial expression perception.
- To explore the influence of age and depressive symptoms on facial vMMN.
Main Methods:
- Recorded P1 and N170 event-related potentials (ERPs) in 36 participants (aged 19-65).
- Utilized oddball paradigms with neutral, happy, and sad faces as standard and deviant stimuli.
- Included a control condition with varied facial expressions to isolate predictive processing.
Main Results:
- N170 amplitude indicated predictive deviance detection for neutral faces (deviant > standard/control).
- No significant vMMN effects were found for emotional (happy/sad) faces.
- N170 amplitude increased with age; no correlation with depressive symptoms was observed.
Conclusions:
- Prediction error in face processing is robustly indexed by N170 amplitude for neutral faces under controlled conditions.
- Automatic change detection mechanisms for emotional faces may differ from neutral faces.
- Age influences neural processing of facial changes, while depressive symptoms do not appear to affect this specific vMMN response.
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