Atypical Modulations of N170 Component during Emotional Processing and Their Links to Social Behaviors in Ex-combatants

Abstract

Emotional processing (EP) is crucial for the elaboration and implementation of adaptive social strategies. EP is also necessary for the expression of social cognition and behavior (SCB) patterns. It is well-known that war contexts induce socio-emotional atypical functioning, in particular for those who participate in combats. Thus, ex-combatants represent an ideal non-clinical population to explore EP modulation and to evaluate its relation with SCB. The aim of this study was to explore EP and its relation with SCB dimensions such as empathy, theory of mind and social skills in a sample of 50 subjects, of which 30 were ex-combatants from illegally armed groups in Colombia, and 20 controls without combat experience. We adapted an Emotional Recognition Task for faces and words and synchronized it with electroencephalographic recording. Ex-combatants presented with higher assertion skills and showed more pronounced brain responses to faces than Controls. They did not show the bias toward anger observed in control participants whereby the latter group was more likely to misclassify neutral faces as angry. However, ex-combatants showed an atypical word valence processing. That is, words with different emotions yielded no differences in N170 modulations. SCB variables were successfully predicted by neurocognitive variables. Our results suggest that in ex-combatants the links between EP and SCB functions are reorganized. This may reflect neurocognitive modulations associated to chronic exposure to war experiences.

The Electrical Aftermath: Brain Signals of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Filtered Through a Clinical Lens

“…Conflicting N170 results exist as a function of traumatic experiences. Although childhood trauma is linked to smaller N170 amplitude to angry/fearful as opposed to happy faces (83, 85), both combat-related trauma and PTSD+ are associated with heightened N170 amplitudes to faces more generally (84) but no N170 amplitude change to angry faces as a function of pre- versus post-deployment in PTSD+ and PTSD− with similar combat trauma (65). The P2 literature is equally messy in that PTSD+ display either attenuated P2 amplitude to happy faces (66, 121) but enhanced P2 amplitude to various faces when compared to PTSD− with traumatic brain injury (TBI) (123).…”

Neurocognitive reorganization of emotional processing following a socio-cognitive intervention in Colombian ex-combatants

“…In a previous study with Colombian ex-combatants, we observed atypical behavioural and electrophysiological EP markers associated to imprecise valence attribution for faces, words, and ecological images (Quintero-Zea et al, 2017;Tobón et al, 2015;Trujillo, Valencia, et al, 2017). Additionally, we described a differential neural pattern represented by the modulation of the N170 component during EP; i.e., ex-combatants privilege face processing over verbal content as a potential neural strategy to improve the recognition of meaningful social information provided by their environment (Trujillo, Valencia, et al, 2017). Furthermore, larger amplitude in the LPP component related to the recognition of valence in contextual emotional images and its association to lower emphatic personal distress dimension have also been informed (Tobón et al, 2015).…”

“…Combat experience is often associated to stress-induced cognitive atypical functioning and to an increase of mental health risks, such as lower quality of life perception and higher prevalence of mental disorders (Castro, Adler, McGurk, & Bliese, 2012;Godfrey et al, 2015;Weierstall, Castellanos, Neuner, & Elbert, 2013). Furthermore, diminished empathic disposition (Tobón et al, 2015;Trujillo, Trujillo, Ugarriza, et al, 2017), increase among aggressive attitude and violence (Gallaway, Fink, Millikan, & Bell, 2012;Godfrey et al, 2015;Tobón et al, 2016), and antisocial behaviour (Kaplan & Nussio, 2013) have also been informed.…”

“…In summary, evidence enables establishing an atypical neural activity associated to specific patterns of social behaviour (such as EP, social skills, and empathy) as a potential adaptive response towards war environments (Quintero-Zea et al, 2017;Tobón et al, 2015;Trujillo, Valencia, et al, 2017). Nevertheless, there is limited evidence about how these patterns (i.e.…”

Trauma, Traumatization and Adverse Environments in War and Armed- Conflict

“…Neurocognitive modulations linked to chronic exposure to war/armed conflict experiences makes heavy demands upon emotional processing for the elaboration and implementation of adaptive social strategies in situations fraught with fatal risk. Ex-combatants, from illegally armed groups in Colombia, presented with higher assertion skills and showed more pronounced brain responses to faces than the control group, without combat experience, lacking also the bias toward "anger" that was observed in the control group wherein the latter group showed a greater likelihood of misclassifying the "neutral" faces as "angry" [6].…”