Low Spatial Frequency Sensitivity and Emotional Face Processing in Adolescents: An Event-related Potential Study

ABSTRACT

Slow maturation of visual pathways transmitting low spatial frequency (LSF) information may contribute to inaccurate facial emotion recognition in adolescence. We recorded ERPs from adolescents and adults to upright and inverted happy faces, fearful faces, and chairs, which were unfiltered, contained only LSFs, or only high spatial frequencies. P100s and N170s were larger for adolescents than adults, with the greatest effect size for LSF stimuli. For LSFs only, adolescents showed a larger N170 inversion effect for happy than for fearful faces, but adults showed the opposite response. Thus, immaturities in LSF pathways appear to impact facial expression processing in adolescents.

Acknowledgments

This study was funded by a City University of New York CUNY Collaborative Incentive Grant (#1610) awarded to Grose-Fifer and Gordon. Many thanks to Danielle Mascarelli and all of those who assisted with data collection.

Author contributions

Jillian Grose-Fifer is the primary investigator for this study. She designed the study, supervised the data collection and analysis, and was the main author. Max Lobel performed some of the analyses for the paper. Danielle diFilipo co-wrote the paper. James Gordon advised about the experimental design, helped to standardize the stimuli, and co-wrote the paper.

Disclosure of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the City University of New York [Collaborative Incentive Grant #1610].