Safar Kristina, Vandewouw Marlee M, Rhodes Natalie, Sato Julie, Taylor Margot J
Department of Diagnostic & Interventional Radiology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Program in Neurosciences & Mental Health, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2025 Jul 24. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsaf076.
Facial expressions are fundamental to social communication, with emotional face processing developing throughout childhood. However, the neural mechanisms underlying this process in young children remain underexplored due to challenges in neuroimaging this population. Optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs), a wearable magnetoencephalography (MEG) technology, offer potential advantages for studying these responses early in life. This study investigated evoked responses and functional connectivity in 45 children (3-5 years) during an emotional face processing task using OPM-MEG. The M170 component, a key marker of face processing, and whole-brain functional connectivity of eight regions of interest were assessed. Children exhibited a robust M170 response to emotional faces in the bilateral fusiform gyri. Peak amplitude increased with age, but no significant latency changes were observed. A significant network of increased connectivity following emotional face onset, involving connections between the amygdalae, insulae, occipital, and frontal regions was found. This study provides the first evidence of M170 responses and large-scale connectivity to emotional faces in young children using OPM-MEG. Findings highlight the feasibility of OPMs for developmental neuroimaging and provide insights into the maturation of emotion-related neural circuits in early childhood. These results establish a foundation for future face processing research in clinical paediatric populations, such as autism.
面部表情是社会交流的基础，情绪面孔加工在整个童年期不断发展。然而，由于对这一年龄段人群进行神经成像存在挑战，幼儿期这一过程背后的神经机制仍未得到充分探索。光泵磁力仪（OPM）是一种可穿戴的脑磁图（MEG）技术，为早期研究这些反应提供了潜在优势。本研究使用OPM-MEG在45名3至5岁儿童进行情绪面孔加工任务期间，调查了诱发反应和功能连接。评估了M170成分（面孔加工的关键标志物）以及八个感兴趣区域的全脑功能连接。儿童在双侧梭状回对面孔表现出强烈的M170反应。峰值幅度随年龄增加，但未观察到显著的潜伏期变化。发现了一个在情绪面孔出现后连接增加的显著网络，涉及杏仁核、脑岛、枕叶和额叶区域之间的连接。本研究首次提供了使用OPM-MEG在幼儿中对面孔的M170反应和大规模连接的证据。研究结果突出了OPM用于发育神经成像的可行性，并为幼儿期与情绪相关的神经回路成熟提供了见解。这些结果为未来在临床儿科人群（如自闭症患者）中进行面孔加工研究奠定了基础。
