Event‐related alpha power in early stage of facial expression processing in social anxiety: Influence of language context

• Published in: Psychophysiology Vol. 61; no. 2; pp. e14455 - n/a
• Main Authors: Song, Sutao, Liu, Aixin, Gao, Zeyuan, Tian, Xiaodong, Zhu, Lingkai, Shang, Haiqing, Gao, Shihao, Zhang, Mingxian, Zhao, Shimeng, Xiao, Guanlai, Zheng, Yuanjie, Ge, Ruiyang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.02.2024
• Subjects: alpha power; Anxiety; context; Emotions; ERPs; Event-related potentials; facial expression; Information processing; Language; Social anxiety; Social interactions; time‐frequency analyses; ERPs; context; time-frequency analyses; facial expression; social anxiety; alpha power
• ISSN: 0048-5772; 1469-8986; 1540-5958
• DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14455

Accurate interpretation of the emotional information conveyed by others' facial expressions is crucial for social interactions. Event‐related alpha power, measured by time‐frequency analysis, is a frequently used EEG index of emotional information processing. However, it is still unclear how event‐related alpha power varies in emotional information processing in social anxiety groups. In the present study, we recorded event‐related potentials (ERPs) while participants from the social anxiety and healthy control groups viewed facial expressions (angry, happy, neutral) preceded by contextual sentences conveying either a positive or negative evaluation of the subject. The impact of context on facial expression processing in both groups of participants was explored by assessing behavioral ratings and event‐related alpha power (0–200 ms after expression presentation). In comparison to the healthy control group, the social anxiety group exhibited significantly lower occipital alpha power in response to angry facial expressions in negative contexts and neutral facial expressions in positive contexts. The influence of language context on facial expression processing in individuals with social anxiety may occur at an early stage of processing. The study investigated context‐influenced facial expression processing in individuals with social anxiety, revealing lower occipital alpha power for angry expressions in negative contexts and neutral expressions in positive contexts, compared to healthy controls. Our findings provide strong evidence for the early‐stage impact of context on facial expression processing in individuals with social anxiety.