title: Electrophysiological correlates of emotional face processing after mild traumatic brain injury in preschool children.
abstract: Evidence suggests that social skills are affected by childhood mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), but the neural and affective substrates of these difficulties are still underexplored. In particular, nothing is known about consequences on the perception of emotional facial expressions, despite its critical role in social interactions and the importance of the preschool period in the development of this ability. This study thus aimed to investigate the electrophysiological correlates of emotional facial expressions processing after early mTBI. To this end, 18 preschool children (mean age 53 ± 8 months) who sustained mTBI and 15 matched healthy controls (mean age 55 ± 11 months) were presented with pictures of faces expressing anger, happiness, or no emotion (neutral) while event-related potentials (ERP) were recorded. The main results revealed that P1 amplitude was higher for happy faces than for angry faces, and that N170 latency was shorter for emotional faces than for neutral faces in the control group only. These findings suggest that preschool children who sustain mTBI do not present the early emotional effects that are observed in healthy preschool children at visuospatial and visual expertise stages. This study provides new evidence regarding the consequences of childhood mTBI on socioemotional processing, by showing alterations of emotional facial expressions processing, an ability known to underlie social competence and appropriate social interactions.
authors.affiliation: Département de Psychologie, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal, Québec, Canada, H3C 3J7.|Centre de Recherche en Neuropsychologie et Cognition (CERNEC), Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.|Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.|Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9193 - SCALab - Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives & CHU Lille, Clinique de Psychiatrie, CURE, F-59000, Lille, France.
authors.forename: Fabien
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: D'Hondt
authors.affiliation: Département de Psychologie, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal, Québec, Canada, H3C 3J7.|Centre de Recherche en Neuropsychologie et Cognition (CERNEC), Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.|Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Maryse
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lassonde
authors.affiliation: Département de Psychologie, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal, Québec, Canada, H3C 3J7.|Centre de Recherche en Neuropsychologie et Cognition (CERNEC), Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.|Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Fanny
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Thebault-Dagher
authors.affiliation: Département de Psychologie, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal, Québec, Canada, H3C 3J7.
authors.forename: Annie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bernier
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Jocelyn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gravel
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Phetsamone
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vannasing
authors.affiliation: Département de Psychologie, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal, Québec, Canada, H3C 3J7. miriam.beauchamp@umontreal.ca.|Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada. miriam.beauchamp@umontreal.ca.
authors.forename: Miriam H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Beauchamp
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000070642:Brain Injuries, Traumatic / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D000066499:Facial Recognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D012938:Social Perception; D066107:Social Skills
keywords: Childhood; Emotional facial expression; Event-related potential; Mild traumatic brain injury; Social skills