Differential Psychology and Psychological Assessment, Universität Hamburg, Von-Melle-Park 5, R4020b, D-20146 Hamburg, Germany.
Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, D-10099 Berlin, Germany.
Neuropsychologia. 2018 Oct;119:512-523. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.08.027. Epub 2018 Aug 31.
In social situations facial expressions are often strategically employed. Despite the many research on motor control of limb movements, little is known about the control over facial expressions. Using a response-priming task, we investigated motor control over three facial expressions, smiles, disgust and emotionally neutral jaw drops. Prime stimuli consisted of videos of a facial expression to be prepared or - as a neutral prime - an abstract symbol superimposed to a scrambled face. In valid trials an equal symbol (=) indicated to produce the primed expression. In invalid trials, an unequal symbol (‡) prompted participants to produce an alternative, unprimed expression. We examined the impact of emotion in preparing and revoking a prepared expression, and possible facilitation for dynamic facial expressions relative to symbolic primes. Participants' facial responses were scored using automated analyses of facial expressions with computer software. The underlying neurocognitive processes were tracked with event-related-potentials. Reprogramming costs, in the form of longer reaction times (RTs) in trials where participants had prepared an invalidly primed expression and had to quickly switch to the correct one, were more pronounced for smiles and jaw drops than for disgust, possibly indicating the need for being fast when showing disgust. Data from the P3 component related the behavioral effect to a more efficient updating of the correct response in brain systems responsible for motor control. Priming participants with dynamic facial expressions as examples for imitation, improved performance accuracy as compared to the symbolic abstract stimuli, but it not did affect RTs. Priming with dynamic videos also resulted in larger validity effects of the P3 component when disgust was the target response, indicating that the perceptual system might trigger automatic emotional responses, at least for negative affect.
在社交场合中,人们经常会策略性地运用面部表情。尽管对手部运动控制的研究很多,但对于面部表情的控制却知之甚少。我们使用反应启动任务,研究了三种面部表情(微笑、厌恶和中性的下颚下垂)的运动控制。启动刺激包括要准备的面部表情的视频,或者——作为中性启动——一个叠加在面部混乱图像上的抽象符号。在有效试验中,一个等于符号(=)表示要产生所启动的表情。在无效试验中,一个不相等符号(‡)提示参与者产生替代的、未启动的表情。我们研究了在准备和撤回已准备好的表情时情绪的影响,以及相对于符号启动,动态面部表情可能产生的促进作用。参与者的面部反应使用计算机软件的自动面部表情分析进行评分。潜在的神经认知过程通过事件相关电位进行跟踪。重新编程成本,以参与者准备了无效启动的表情并且必须快速切换到正确表情的试验中更长的反应时间(RT)的形式,对于微笑和下颚下垂比厌恶更为明显,这可能表明在表现出厌恶时需要快速。与行为效应相关的 P3 成分数据与负责运动控制的大脑系统中正确反应的更有效更新有关。与动态面部表情一起启动参与者作为模仿的例子,与符号抽象刺激相比,提高了准确性,但不会影响 RT。对动态视频的启动也会导致当厌恶是目标反应时 P3 成分的有效性更大,这表明感知系统可能会引发自动的情绪反应,至少对于负性情绪是如此。