Facial emotion processing and language during early-to-middle childhood development: An event related potential study. (February 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bigelow, Felicity J.; Clark, Gillian M.; Lum, Jarrad A.G.; Enticott, Peter G.
• Is Part Of: Developmental cognitive neuroscience. Volume 53(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-02
• Subjects: Facial emotion processing -- Language -- Event-related potentials -- Early-to-middle childhood; Cognitive neuroscience -- Periodicals; Developmental neurobiology -- Periodicals; Neuropsychology -- Periodicals; Neuropsychiatry -- Periodicals; 612.8233
• DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2021.101052
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1878-9293

Abstract

Abstract: Facial emotion processing (FEP) is critical to social cognitive ability. Developmentally, FEP rapidly improves in early childhood and continues to be fine-tuned throughout middle childhood and into adolescence. Previous research has suggested that language plays a role in the development of social cognitive skills, including non-verbal emotion recognition tasks. Here we investigated whether language is associated with specific neurophysiological indicators of FEP. One hundred and fourteen children (4–12 years) completed a language assessment and a FEP task including stimuli depicting anger, happiness, fear, and neutrality. EEG was used to record key event related potentials (ERPs; P100, N170, LPP at occipital and parietal sites separately) previously shown to be sensitive to faces and facial emotion. While there were no main effects of language, the P100 latency to negative expressions appeared to increase with language, while LPP amplitude increased with language for negative and neutral expressions. These findings suggest that language is linked to some early physiological indicators of FEP, but this is dependent on the facial expression. Future studies should explore the role of language in later stages of neural processing, with a focus on processes localised to ventromedial prefrontal regions. Highlights: We examine the relationship between language and neurophysiological measures of FEP ERPs across development. FEP ERPs of interest included P100, N170 and LPP. Findings suggest relationship between language and neurophysiological measures may differ to behavioural measures of FEP. Evidence for language playing an interactive role across early and later ERPs. The interactive role of language appears to be emotion specific.