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ERP Study on Prepotent Response Inhibition to Emotional Face in Preschoolers and School-Age Children

Poster No:

610 

Submission Type:

Abstract Submission 

Authors:

Hsin-Hui Lu1, Hong-Hsiang Liu2, Feng-Ming Tsao3, Huei-Mei Liu4

Institutions:

1Graduate Institute of Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan, 2Department of Clinical Psychology, Fu Jen Catholic University, New Taipei City, Taiwan, 3Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, 4Department of special education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan

First Author:

Hsin-Hui Lu  
Graduate Institute of Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University
Taoyuan, Taiwan

Co-Author(s):

Hong-Hsiang Liu  
Department of Clinical Psychology, Fu Jen Catholic University
New Taipei City, Taiwan
Feng-Ming Tsao  
Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University
Taipei, Taiwan
Huei-Mei Liu  
Department of special education, National Taiwan Normal University
Taipei, Taiwan

Introduction:

Prepotent response inhibition (PRI) in emotional conditions is the ability to suppress automatic or dominant emotional responses when they are no longer appropriate. It is a key part of executive functioning and self-regulation during emotional settings. This ability develops from the preschool stage to the school-age stage. The Emotional Go/NoGo task is commonly used to assess an individual's PRI in emotional conditions. The process involves multiple cognitive information processing steps and the simultaneous collection of brain neural responses. It analyzes components such as N170, N2, and LPP. The N170, a negative component in the posterior occipital region, peaks approximately 170 ms after stimulation and is thought to reflect the early stages of face encoding. The N2 component is considered to be an index of an early mechanism of inhibitory control that reflects a 'red flag' signal generated to trigger the inhibitory process. The LPP has been shown to be related to subjective ratings of emotional intensity and to reflect the continued allocation of attention to emotional stimuli. It has also been suggested that the LPP is associated with facilitated processing and encoding of motivationally relevant, emotional stimuli. This study, employing ERP, explored the developmental trend of PRI in emotional conditions from preschool to school-age stages

Methods:

Forty-six children aged 4-9 participated in the experiment, divided into two groups: preschool (n = 23, 9 boys, age (SD) = 5.21 (0.67) years) and school-aged (n = 23, 11 boys, age (SD) = 7.82 (0.62) years). There was no significant difference in the gender ratio between the preschool and school-aged groups (p > .05). Their language intelligence was assessed using the PPVT-R Chinese version, and all scored above 80. Furthermore, the language intelligence of both groups did not show significant differences (preschool: IQ (SD) = 122.57 (11.95); school-aged: IQ (SD) = 124.96 (14.43)) (p > .05). Both preschoolers and school-aged children performed an emotional Go/NoGo task using facial expressions (angry, happy, and neutral) as emotional stimuli. There were four blocks: neutral-Go/angry-NoGo, neutral-NoGo/angry-Go, neutral-Go/happy-NoGo, and neutral-NoGo/happy-Go. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured during the task. The ERP data were subsequently processed offline, re-referenced to the average reference, and then underwent a 0.01-50 Hz bandpass filter. The epoch was 800 ms (-100 to 700 ms) with a baseline of -100 to 0 ms. The amplitude of N170 (200-400 ms at P8), N2 (200-400 ms at Fz), and LPP (350-700 ms at Pz) were further analyzed. The topographic distributions of N170 and N2 were different.

Results:

To understand the relationship between changes in amplitude from neutral, happy, and angry emotions in the preschooler and school-aged groups, a mixed-model ANOVA with group (preschool versus school-aged) by time (neutral versus happy versus angry) was performed. Comparisons of the N170 amplitude at the P8 electrode showed no significant differences between preschool and school-aged groups (p > .05). Similarly, comparisons of the N2 amplitude at the Fz electrode indicated no significant differences between preschool and school-aged groups (p > .05). However, comparing the LPP amplitude at the Pz electrode revealed significant differences between preschool and school-aged groups (F(1, 44) = 9.467, p = .004).

Conclusions:

Our findings show that school-aged children's perception of emotional intensity and their ongoing attention to emotional stimuli are related. Additionally, the LPP is linked to improved processing and encoding of emotionally significant stimuli. However, the ability to recognize faces and respond to happy or angry emotions is similar between preschool and school-aged children. Using an emotional Go/NoGo task with EEG data collection helps us understand how children process PRI.

Brain Stimulation:

Direct Electrical/Optogenetic Stimulation

Education, History and Social Aspects of Brain Imaging:

Education, History and Social Aspects of Brain Imaging

Emotion, Motivation and Social Neuroscience:

Emotional Perception 1
Social Cognition 2

Keywords:

Development
Electroencephaolography (EEG)
Emotions
PEDIATRIC

1|2Indicates the priority used for review
Supporting Image: Noapplicable.jpg
 

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Ahumada-Mendez, F., Lucero, B., Avenanti, A., Saracini, C., Munoz-Quezada, M. T., Cortes-Rivera, C., & Canales-Johnson, A. (2022). Affective modulation of cognitive control: A systematic review of EEG studies. Physiology & Behavior, 249, 113743.

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