首页 | 官方网站   微博 | 高级检索  
     


Processing of facial blends of emotion: support for right hemisphere cognitive aging
Authors:Prodan Calin I  Orbelo Diana M  Ross Elliott D
Affiliation:Department of Neurology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, and the VA Medical Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA. calin-prodan@ouhsc.edu
Abstract:Clinical research on facial emotions has focused primarily on differences between right and left hemiface. Social psychology, however, has suggested that differences between upper versus lower facial displays may be more important, especially during social interactions. We demonstrated previously that upper facial displays are perceived preferentially by the right hemisphere, while lower facial displays are perceived preferentially by the left hemisphere. A marginal age-related effect was observed. The current research expands our original cohort to include 26 elderly individuals over age 62. Fifty-six, strongly right-handed, healthy, adult volunteers were tested tachistoscopically by flashing randomized facial displays of emotion to the right and left visual fields. The stimuli consisted of line drawings displaying various combinations of emotions on the upper and lower face. The subjects were tested under two conditions: without attend instruction and with instructions to attend to the upper face. Based on linear regression and discriminant analyses modeling age, subject performance could be divided into two distinct groups: Young (< 62 years) and Old (> 62 years). Without attend instructions, both groups robustly identified the emotion displayed on the lower face, regardless of visual field presentation. With instructions to attend to the upper face, the Old group demonstrated a markedly decreased ability to identify upper facial displays, compared to the Young group. The most significant difference was noted in the left visual field/right hemisphere. Our results demonstrate a significant decline in the processing of upper facial emotions by the right hemisphere in older individuals, thus providing partial support for the right hemisphere hypothesis of cognitive aging. The decreased ability to perceive upper facial displays coupled with age-related deficits in processing affective prosody may well cause impaired psychosocial competency in the elderly.
Keywords:facial emotions  aging  right hemisphere
本文献已被 ScienceDirect PubMed 等数据库收录!
设为首页 | 免责声明 | 关于勤云 | 加入收藏

Copyright©北京勤云科技发展有限公司    京ICP备09084417号-23

京公网安备 11010802026262号