Event-Related Potential to Conscious and Nonconscious Emotional Face Perception in Females with Autistic-Like Traits.

ABSTRACT: This study explored the electrocortical correlates of conscious and nonconscious perceptions of emotionally laden faces in neurotypical adult women with varying levels of autistic-like traits (Autism Spectrum Quotient-AQ). Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during the viewing of backward-masked images for happy, neutral, and sad faces presented either below (16 ms-subliminal) or above the level of visual conscious awareness (167 ms-supraliminal). Sad compared to happy faces elicited larger frontal-central N1, N2, and occipital P3 waves. We observed larger N1 amplitudes to sad faces than to happy and neutral faces in High-AQ (but not Low-AQ) scorers. Additionally, High-AQ scorers had a relatively larger P3 at the occipital region to sad faces. Regardless of the AQ score, sublimin

SUBMITTER: De Pascalis V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7408869 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature