title: [Abnormal automatic processing of facial expression in generalized anxiety disorder patients: an event-related potential study].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the automatic processing of facial expression and explore the pathogenesis in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifteen GAD patients and 15 gender-, age- and education-matched healthy volunteers were recruited from First Affiliated Hospital, Dalian Medical University. The expression-related mismatch negativity (MMN) was recorded to explore the automatic processing mechanism into emotional faces with task-irrelevant emotional faces as effective media.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The MMNs elicited by emotional faces were significantly lower in GAD participants than those in healthy participants [MMN1:case group (-0.30 ± 0.09) µV, control group (-0.68 ± 0.13) µV, P = 0.0003; MMN2: case group (-0.22 ± 0.13) µV, control group (-0.72 ± 0.13) µV, P = 0.011] (Ps < 0.05) analyzing. For the effect of expression, it was found that the MMNs elicited by negative expression were lower in GAD participants than those in healthy participants mainly in right hemisphere while positive expression mainly in left hemisphere [MMN1:case group (-0.45 ± 0.15) µV, control group (-0.99 ± 0.15) µV, P = 0.017; MMN2:case group (0.23 ± 0.22) µV, control group (-1.23 ± 0.22) µV, P = 0.003; (MMN1:case group (-0.12 ± 0.14) µV, control group (-0.65 ± 0.14) µV, P = 0.015; MMN2:case group (0.14 ± 0.18) µV, control group (-0.42 ± 0.18) µV, P = 0.039].
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is an impairment of automatic processing of emotional faces.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, First Affiliated Hospital, Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116011, China.
authors.forename: Hong-ning
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, First Affiliated Hospital, Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116011, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, First Affiliated Hospital, Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116011, China. Email: xujing_doc@yahoo.com.cn.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, First Affiliated Hospital, Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116011, China.
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, First Affiliated Hospital, Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116011, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-mei
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, First Affiliated Hospital, Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116011, China.
authors.forename: Di
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult