Neural Responses to Rapid Facial Expressions of Fear and Surprise

Facial expression recognition is mediated by a distributed neural system in humans that involves multiple, bilateral regions. There are six basic facial expressions that may be recognized in humans (fear, sadness, surprise, happiness, anger, and disgust); however, fearful faces and surprised faces a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in psychology 2017-05, Vol.8, p.761-761
Main Authors: Zhao, Ke, Zhao, Jia, Zhang, Ming, Cui, Qian, Fu, Xiaolan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
amygdala
fearful face
Psychology
recognition
surprised face
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Summary:Facial expression recognition is mediated by a distributed neural system in humans that involves multiple, bilateral regions. There are six basic facial expressions that may be recognized in humans (fear, sadness, surprise, happiness, anger, and disgust); however, fearful faces and surprised faces are easily confused in rapid presentation. The functional organization of the facial expression recognition system embodies a distinction between these two emotions, which is investigated in the present study. A core system that includes the right parahippocampal gyrus (BA 30), fusiform gyrus, and amygdala mediates the visual recognition of fear and surprise. We found that fearful faces evoked greater activity in the left precuneus, middle temporal gyrus (MTG), middle frontal gyrus, and right lingual gyrus, whereas surprised faces were associated with greater activity in the right postcentral gyrus and left posterior insula. These findings indicate the importance of common and separate mechanisms of the neural activation that underlies the recognition of fearful and surprised faces.
ISSN:1664-1078
1664-1078
DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00761