Angry facial expressions elicit a late attentional withdrawal.

ABSTRACT: Facial expressions of emotion are salient social cues that can trigger adaptive behavioral responses-such as facilitated approach or avoidance movements in response to positive or negative stimuli, respectively. We conducted a behavioral experiment testing the hypothesis that while both happy and angry faces initially capture attention, angry expressions subsequently prompt a withdrawal of attention-a pattern consistent with aversive behavioral tendencies. Using a target-detection paradigm, we varied the spatial location and timing (50 ms vs. 350 ms) of targets relative to face stimuli. Results supported the hypothesis: angry faces led to faster responses to targets appearing nearer to the observer (i.e., farther from the face) at 350 ms, suggesting attentional retraction. A follow-up fMRI

SUBMITTER: Ballotta D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12645048 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature