Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 11, 2026

Central and Divided Visual Field Presentation of Emotional Images to Measure Hemispheric Differences in Motivated Attention
Published on: November 16, 2017
Fearful expressions facilitate perceptual dominance of low spatial frequency information in visual awareness
Zhaoqi Hu1,2, Qian Xu3,4, Shiqi Tan1,2
1State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
The human brain optimises cognitive resource allocation to enhance the processing speed and efficiency of vital information for better survival and adaptation in response to threat signals. Previous studies found that fearful expressions, as visual cues signalling threats, can not only have advantages in entering and remaining in awareness, but also enhance subsequent perceptual processing of low-spatial-frequency (LSF) information. However, it remains unknown whether the enhanced perceptual processing of LSF induced by fearful expressions also grants LSF information a competitive advantage in awareness. To this end, we employed a binocular rivalry paradigm to measure awareness of Gabor patches with low or high spatial frequencies following the rapid priming of fearful versus neutral expressions. The results revealed that the relative dominance of LSF over high-spatial-frequency (HSF) Gabor patches was markedly heightened following brief exposure to fearful compared with neutral expressions. This effect was found for both upright and inverted expressions, indicating it is independent of face configuration. Our study thus suggests a feature-based perceptual optimisation mechanism with evolutionary significance, potentially optimising cognitive resource allocation in threatening situations.
Related Concept Videos
Association Areas of the Cortex
Prefrontal Association Area: This area is located in the frontal lobe and is involved in planning, decision-making, and moderating social behavior. It connects with primary motor areas,...
Depth Perception and Spatial Vision
Perceptual Constancy
Size constancy is the recognition that an object remains the same size, even when its image on the retina changes. For instance, a bus is perceived to be large enough to carry people, even if it looks tiny from...
Gestalt Principles of Perception
Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location
Place theory, or place coding, suggests that different pitches are heard because various sound waves activate specific locations along the cochlea's basilar membrane. The brain determines the pitch of a sound by...
Factors Affecting Perception
An illustrative example of a perceptual set is the scenario where an airline pilot told...

