Hoyniak Caroline P, Bates John E, Petersen Isaac T, Yang Chung-Lin, Darcy Isabelle, Fontaine Nathalie M G
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA.
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.
Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2019 Feb;50(1):72-82. doi: 10.1007/s10578-018-0821-9.
Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are characterized by deficits in guilt/empathy, shallow affect, and the callous and manipulative use of others. Individuals showing CU traits have increased risk for behavior problems and reduced responses to displays of distress in others. To explore how deficits in emotion-processing are associated with CU traits, the current study examined the association between callous-unemotionality and a neural index of facial emotion processing, using the event-related potential technique in a group of 3-5 year olds. Children viewed a series of static emotional faces, depicting either fear or happiness, while electroencephalography data were collected. The N170 component, thought to index the neural processes associated with face perception, was examined along with CU traits. Findings suggest that the unemotional dimension of CU traits is associated with diminished emotion-processing responses to fearful faces. Reduced neural responses to facial depictions of fear could be a biomarker for unemotional traits in early childhood.
冷酷无情（CU）特质的特点是缺乏内疚感/同理心、情感淡漠，以及对他人的冷酷操控。表现出CU特质的个体出现行为问题的风险增加，对他人痛苦表现的反应减少。为了探究情绪处理缺陷如何与CU特质相关联，本研究使用事件相关电位技术，在一组3至5岁儿童中，检验了冷酷无情与面部情绪处理的神经指标之间的关联。孩子们观看了一系列描绘恐惧或快乐的静态情绪面孔，同时收集脑电图数据。研究了被认为可指示与面部感知相关神经过程的N170成分以及CU特质。研究结果表明，CU特质的情感淡漠维度与对恐惧面孔的情绪处理反应减弱有关。对面部恐惧描绘的神经反应减少可能是幼儿期情感淡漠特质的一个生物标志物。
