Kensaku Miki1, Shoko Watanabe2, Mika Teruya2, Yasuyuki Takeshima2, Tomokazu Urakawa2, Masahiro Hirai3, Yukiko Honda2, Ryusuke Kakigi4. 1. Department of Integrative Physiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, Aichi, Japan. Electronic address: kensaku@nips.ac.jp. 2. Department of Integrative Physiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, Aichi, Japan. 3. Department of Integrative Physiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, Aichi, Japan; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan. 4. Department of Integrative Physiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, Aichi, Japan; Department of Physiological Sciences, School of Life Sciences, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI), Hayama, Kanagawa, Japan.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The development of the perception of changes in facial emotion was investigated using event-related potentials (ERPs) in children and adults. METHODS: Four different conditions were presented: (1) N-H: a neutral face that suddenly changed to a happy face. (2) H-N: reverse of N-H. (3) N-A: a neutral face that suddenly changed to an angry face. (4) A-N: reverse of N-A. RESULTS: In the bilateral posterior temporal areas, a negative component was evoked by all conditions in younger children (7-10 years old), older children (11-14 years old), and adults (23-33 years old) within 150-300 ms. Peak latency was significantly shorter and amplitude was significantly smaller in adults than younger and older children. Moreover, maximum amplitude was significantly larger for N-H and N-A than H-N and A-N in younger children and for N-H than the other three conditions in adults. CONCLUSION: The areas of the brain involved in perceiving changes in facial emotion have not matured by 14 years of age. SIGNIFICANCE: Our study is the first to clarify a difference between children and adults in the perception of facial emotional change.
OBJECTIVE: The development of the perception of changes in facial emotion was investigated using event-related potentials (ERPs) in children and adults. METHODS: Four different conditions were presented: (1) N-H: a neutral face that suddenly changed to a happy face. (2) H-N: reverse of N-H. (3) N-A: a neutral face that suddenly changed to an angry face. (4) A-N: reverse of N-A. RESULTS: In the bilateral posterior temporal areas, a negative component was evoked by all conditions in younger children (7-10 years old), older children (11-14 years old), and adults (23-33 years old) within 150-300 ms. Peak latency was significantly shorter and amplitude was significantly smaller in adults than younger and older children. Moreover, maximum amplitude was significantly larger for N-H and N-A than H-N and A-N in younger children and for N-H than the other three conditions in adults. CONCLUSION: The areas of the brain involved in perceiving changes in facial emotion have not matured by 14 years of age. SIGNIFICANCE: Our study is the first to clarify a difference between children and adults in the perception of facial emotional change.