More than meets the eye: The neural development of emotion face processing during infancy

Safyer, Paige; Volling, Brenda L.; Wagley, Neelima; Hu, Xiao‐Su; Swain, James E.; Arredondo, Maria M.; Kovelman, Ioulia

doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2020.101430

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…One fNIRS study found larger responses to fearful faces in temporal (but not frontal) regions in 5-month-old infants ( Di Lorenzo et al, 2019 ), another found differences in the timecourse of responses to happy and angry faces in 6- to 7-month-old infants ( Nakato et al, 2011 ), and a third found no differences in responses by emotion category in 5- to 7-month-old infants ( Bayet et al, 2020 ). Studies of emotion processing that use voice, rather than face, stimuli also present mixed results ( Grossmann et al, 2010 ; Safyer et al, 2020 ; Zhang et al, 2017 ). However, one consistent finding from fNIRS and fMRI research relevant to emotion processing is that MPFC responds preferentially to positively valenced, socially relevant stimuli during infancy ( Grossmann, 2013 ; Powell et al, 2018b ; Raz and Saxe, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preferential responses to faces in superior temporal and medial prefrontal cortex in three-year-old children

Richardson

Taylor

Powell

et al. 2021

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

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Perceiving faces and understanding emotions are key components of human social cognition. Prior research with adults and infants suggests that these social cognitive functions are supported by superior temporal cortex (STC) and medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC). We used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to characterize functional responses in these cortical regions to faces in early childhood. Three-year-old children (n = 88, M(SD) = 3.15(.16) years) passively viewed faces that varied in emotional content and valence (happy, angry, fearful, neutral) and, for fearful and angry faces, intensity (100%, 40%), while undergoing fNIRS. Bilateral STC and MPFC showed greater oxygenated hemoglobin concentration values to all faces relative to objects. MPFC additionally responded preferentially to happy faces relative to neutral faces. We did not detect preferential responses to angry or fearful faces, or overall differences in response magnitude by emotional valence (100% happy vs. fearful and angry) or intensity (100% vs. 40% fearful and angry). In exploratory analyses, preferential responses to faces in MPFC were not robustly correlated with performance on tasks of early social cognition. These results link and extend adult and infant research on functional responses to faces in STC and MPFC and contribute to the characterization of the neural correlates of early social cognition.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preferential responses to faces in superior temporal and medial prefrontal cortex in three-year-old children

Richardson

Taylor

Powell

et al. 2021

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

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“…The study of the parental brain requires a combination of well-established paradigms and innovative, realistic probes that incorporate consistent terminology on affect. More naturalistic and personally relevant stimuli must be pursued to carefully assess real-time parental brain functioning, thoughts and behaviors ( Kim et al, 2013 ) to include the richness of parental feelings and real-time nature of parent-infant interactions ( Safyer et al, 2020 ). For example, brain activity in response to own baby-cry was correlated with a measure of mental state talk, but not with more global aspects of observed caregiving ( Hipwell et al, 2015 ).…”

Section: Interactions and Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The neuroscience of social feelings: mechanisms of adaptive social functioning

Eslinger

Anders

Ballarini

et al. 2021

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

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Social feelings have conceptual and empirical connections with affect and emotion. In this review, we discuss how they relate to cognition, emotion, behavior and well-being. We examine the functional neuroanatomy and neurobiology of social feelings and their role in adaptive social functioning. Existing neuroscience literature is reviewed to identify concepts, methods and challenges that might be addressed by social feelings research. Specific topic areas highlight the influence and modulation of social feelings on interpersonal affiliation, parent-child attachments, moral sentiments, interpersonal stressors, and emotional communication. Brain regions involved in social feelings were confirmed by meta-analysis using the Neurosynth platform for large-scale, automated synthesis of functional magnetic resonance imaging data. Words that relate specifically to social feelings were identfied as potential research variables. Topical inquiries into social media behaviors, loneliness, trauma, and social sensitivity, especially with recent physical distancing for guarding public and personal health, underscored the increasing importance of social feelings for affective and second person neuroscience research with implications for brain development, physical and mental health, and lifelong adaptive functioning.

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