In the present study we examined the neural correlates of facial emotion processing in the first year of life using ERP measures and cortical source analysis. EEG data were collected cross-sectionally from 5-(N = 49), 7-(N = 50), and 12-month-old (N = 51) infants while they were viewing images of angry, fearful, and happy faces.The N290 component was found to be larger in amplitude in response to fearful and happy than angry faces in all posterior clusters and showed largest response to fear than the other two emotions only over the right occipital area. The P400 and Nc components were found to be larger in amplitude in response to angry than happy and fearful faces over central and frontal scalp. Cortical source analysis of the N290 component revealed greater cortical activation in the right fusiform face area in response to fearful faces. This effect started to emerge at 5 months and became well established at 7 months, but it disappeared at 12 months. The P400 and Nc components were primarily localized to the PCC/Precuneus where heightened responses to angry faces were observed. The current results suggest the detection of a fearful face in infants' brain can happen shortly (~200-290 ms) after the stimulus onset, and this process may rely on the face network and develop substantially between 5 to 7 months of age. The current findings also suggest the differential processing of angry faces occurred later in the P400/Nc time window, which recruits the PCC/ Precuneus and is associated with the allocation of infants' attention. K E Y W O R D S cortical source analysis, ERPs, infant facial emotion processing S U PP O RTI N G I N FO R M ATI O N Additional supporting information may be found online in the Supporting Information section at the end of the article. How to cite this article: Xie W, McCormick SA, Westerlund A, Bowman LC, Nelson CA. Neural correlates of facial emotion processing in infancy. Dev Sci. 2019;22:e12758.

Previous studies in infants have shown that face-sensitive components of the ongoing EEG (the event-related potential, or ERP) are larger in amplitude to negative emotions (e.g., fear, anger) versus positive emotions (e.g., happy). However, it is still unclear whether the negative emotions linked with the face or the negative emotions alone contribute to these amplitude differences. We simultaneously recorded infant looking behaviors (via eye-tracking) and face-sensitive ERPs while 7-month-old infants viewed human faces or animals displaying happy, fear, or angry expressions. We observed that the amplitude of the N290 was greater (i.e., more negative) to angry animals compared to happy or fearful animals; no such differences were obtained for human faces. Eye-tracking data highlighted the importance of the eye region in processing emotional human faces. Infants that spent more time looking to the eye region of human faces showing fearful or angry expressions had greater N290 or P400 amplitudes, respectively.

Understanding the role that mental health issues play in justice-involved youth poses challenges for research, policy, and practice. While mental health problems are generally not risk factors for criminal behavior according to the risk-needs-responsivity (RNR) framework of correctional psychology practice, prevalence rates are very high and RNR principles suggest that mental health as a responsivity variable may moderate the success of interventions targeted to criminogenic needs. In this study we investigated the relationships among mental health status, criminogenic needs treatment, and recidivism in a sample of 232 youth referred for court-ordered assessments and followed through their community supervision sentence (probation). Youth with mental health needs were no more likely than youth without these needs to reoffend, regardless of whether those needs were treated. Youth who received mental health treatment also more frequently had their criminogenic needs matched across several domains, suggesting an association between mental health treatment and intermediate treatment targets. However, mental health did not moderate the effect of criminogenic needs treatment: youth who had a greater proportion of criminogenic needs targeted through appropriate services were less likely to reoffend, regardless of mental health status. Findings are consistent with the RNR stance that, within a correctional context in which the primary goal of intervention is preventing recidivism, treatment for mental health needs should be in addition to criminogenic needs treatment, not in replacement of it. They also point to the need for continued research to understand precisely how mental health treatment interacts with intervention targeting criminogenic needs. (PsycINFO Database Record

Changes in heart rate are a useful physiological measure in infant studies. We present an algorithm for calculating the heart rate (HR) from oxyhemoglobin pulsation in functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) signals. The algorithm is applied to data collected from 10 infants, and the HR derived from the fNIRS signals is compared against the HR as calculated by electrocardiography. We show high agreement between the two HR signals for all infants (r > 0.90), and also compare stimulus-related HR responses as measured by the two methods and find good agreement despite high levels of movement in the infants. This algorithm can be used to measure changes in HR in infants participating in fNIRS studies without the need for additional HR sensors.

The fact that individuals with mental health problems are significantly overrepresented in the justice system is a significant concern for public policy and practice. Psychology research examining mental health and risk for criminal offending can be broadly categorized into two approaches that have remained either independent of one another or in apparent conflict: the first based in clinical literature and focused on associations with psychopathology, and the second focused on forensic rehabilitation (e.g., represented in the Risk-Need-Responsivity literature).Although the policy and practice goals associated with these literatures are not synonymous, they overlap in critical respects. The lack of dialogue between the two approaches impoverishes both and contributes to misunderstanding that undermines effective policymaking and practice. To facilitate interpretation of these two approaches, in the current paper research examining mental health issues in justice-involved adults and youth is critically analyzed in terms of differing goals, implicit assumptions, intended scope of the literature, and key terminology (especially definitions of "mental health" problems and of "risk"). These differences are clarified to identify areas of congruence as well as outstanding conflicts. Suggestions are presented for future research at the nexus of these two approaches, which would serve the goal of developing evidence-informed policy and practice to reduce recidivism and improve mental health functioning in individuals with mental health problems who are involved in the justice system.