Impairments of emotional face processing in schizophrenia patients: Evidence from P100, N170 and P300 ERP components in a sample of auditory hallucinators

Facial Expression Processing Across the Autism–Psychosis Spectra: A Review of Neural Findings and Associations With Adverse Childhood Events

“…A smaller N170 amplitude in individuals with primary psychosis compared with controls when processing expressive faces has been reported (58,63,145), and this effect seems to be independent of method of component extraction (mean vs. peak amplitude) or task requirements. Similarly, individuals with primary psychosis display smaller N250 and P300 amplitudes than healthy controls (63,145).…”

“…In line with the fMRI findings, to date, it is unclear whether EEG atypicalities in primary psychosis are specific to the processing of expressive faces or whether they arise when processing faces in general (63). In this regard, Murashko and Shmukler (64) and Shah et al (145) reported reduced N170 amplitudes in individuals with primary psychosis when processing neutral faces, and this N170 amplitude to nonemotional faces also correlated with social functioning.…”

“…As the occipito-temporally recorded N170 ERP component is regarded as the primary component of face processing, the majority of ERP research on facial processing in primary psychosis has focused on this component (63,144). A smaller N170 amplitude in individuals with primary psychosis compared with controls when processing expressive faces has been reported (58,63,145), and this effect seems to be independent of method of component extraction (mean vs. peak amplitude) or task requirements. Similarly, individuals with primary psychosis display smaller N250 and P300 amplitudes than healthy controls (63,145).…”

“…Reduced activation in the fusiform gyrus-and indirectly also atypical amygdala functioning-might be associated with delayed or reduced N170 responses, often reported in individuals with ASD (61) or primary psychosis (58,63,145), respectively, as this ERP component is mostly recorded over occipitotemporal sites where the fusiform gyrus is located. Studies assessing facial expression processing using multimodal imaging (i.e., integrating imaging methodologies) are invaluable to enhance our understanding of the neural underpinnings of facial expression processing in ASD and primary psychosis.…”

“…Most importantly, the N170 does not consistently categorize individuals and does not measure a specific impairment (facial expression processing) related to a specific clinical profile (e.g., ASD). Moreover, disentangling the specific neural response to the facial expression from the general neural face processing response is challenging, especially since deficits in general (neutral) face processing have also been reported in both ASD (177,189) and primary psychosis (64,145,179). Accordingly, and in spite of many studies claiming otherwise [e.g., (58,61)], it is highly questionable whether the N170 may ever fulfill its promise of being a sensitive biomarker for aberrant socioemotional sensitivity and definitely not for disorder-specific dysfunction [e.g., (121,185,190)].…”