Age-induced differences in brain neural activation elicited by visual emotional stimuli: A high-density EEG study.
Identifying the brain sources of neural activation during processing of emotional information remains a very challenging task. In this work, we investigated the response to different emotional stimuli and the effect of age on the neuronal activation. Two negative emotion conditions, i.e., 'anger' and 'fear' faces were presented to 22 adult female participants (11 young and 11 elderly) while acquiring high-density electroencephalogram (EEG) data of 256 channels. Brain source localization was utilized to study the modulations in the early N170 event-related-potential component. The results revealed alterations in the amplitude of N170 and the localization of areas with maximum neural activation. Furthermore, age-induced differences are shown in the topographic maps and the neural activation for both emotional stimuli. Overall, aging appeared to affect the limbic area and its implication to emotional processing. These findings can serve as a step toward the understanding of the way the brain functions and evolves with age which is a significant element in the design of assistive environments.
Medical Physics Laboratory, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. Electronic address: tsolakianthoula@gmail.com.
Anthoula C
AC
Tsolaki
Information Technologies Institute (ITI), Centre for Research & Technology Hellas, Greece. Electronic address: kosmidou@iti.gr.
Vasiliki E
VE
Kosmidou
Information Technologies Institute (ITI), Centre for Research & Technology Hellas, Greece. Electronic address: ikom@iti.gr.
Ioannis Yiannis
IY
Kompatsiaris
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. Electronic address: chrysa.papadaniil@gmail.com.
Chrysa
C
Papadaniil
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece; Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Khalifa University, PO BOX 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Electronic address: leontios@auth.gr.
Leontios
L
Hadjileontiadis
3rd Department of Neurology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. Electronic address: tsolakim1@gmail.com.
Magda
M
Tsolaki
D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*
age effect; brain source localization; emotional stimuli; high-density EEG