The development of the perception of facial emotional change examined using ERPs.
OBJECTIVE
The development of the perception of changes in facial emotion was investigated using event-related potentials (ERPs) in children and adults.


METHODS
Four different conditions were presented: (1) N-H: a neutral face that suddenly changed to a happy face. (2) H-N: reverse of N-H. (3) N-A: a neutral face that suddenly changed to an angry face. (4) A-N: reverse of N-A.


RESULTS
In the bilateral posterior temporal areas, a negative component was evoked by all conditions in younger children (7-10 years old), older children (11-14 years old), and adults (23-33 years old) within 150-300 ms. Peak latency was significantly shorter and amplitude was significantly smaller in adults than younger and older children. Moreover, maximum amplitude was significantly larger for N-H and N-A than H-N and A-N in younger children and for N-H than the other three conditions in adults.


CONCLUSIONS
The areas of the brain involved in perceiving changes in facial emotion have not matured by 14 years of age.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study is the first to clarify a difference between children and adults in the perception of facial emotional change.
Miki
Kensaku
K
Department of Integrative Physiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, Aichi, Japan. Electronic address: kensaku@nips.ac.jp.
Watanabe
Shoko
S
Department of Integrative Physiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, Aichi, Japan.
Teruya
Mika
M
Department of Integrative Physiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, Aichi, Japan.
Takeshima
Yasuyuki
Y
Department of Integrative Physiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, Aichi, Japan.
Urakawa
Tomokazu
T
Department of Integrative Physiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, Aichi, Japan.
Hirai
Masahiro
M
Department of Integrative Physiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, Aichi, Japan; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
Honda
Yukiko
Y
Department of Integrative Physiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, Aichi, Japan.
Kakigi
Ryusuke
R
Department of Integrative Physiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, Aichi, Japan; Department of Physiological Sciences, School of Life Sciences, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI), Hayama, Kanagawa, Japan.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012938:Social Perception; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult