This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Adolphs, R. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Adolphs, R. Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Recognizing Emotion from Facial Expressions: Psychological and Neurological Mechanisms

University of Iowa College of Medicineralph-adolphs{at}uiowa.edu

Recognizing emotion from facial expressions draws on diverse psychological processes implemented in a large array of neural structures. Studies using evoked potentials, lesions, and functional imaging have begun to elucidate some of the mechanisms. Early perceptual processing of faces draws on cortices in occipital and temporal lobes that construct detailed representations from the configuration of facial features. Subsequent recognition requires a set of structures, including amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex, that links perceptual representations of the face to the generation of knowledge about the emotion signaled, a complex set of mechanisms using multiple strategies. Although recent studies have provided a wealth of detail regarding these mechanisms in the adult human brain, investigations are also being extended to nonhuman primates, to infants, and to patients with psychiatric disorders.

Key Words: cognition • cognitive neuroscience • emotion • facial expression • neuropsychology

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				F. Le Jeune, J. Peron, I. Biseul, S. Fournier, P. Sauleau, S. Drapier, C. Haegelen, D. Drapier, B. Millet, E. Garin, et al. Subthalamic nucleus stimulation affects orbitofrontal cortex in facial emotion recognition: a pet study Brain, June 1, 2008; 131(6): 1599 - 1608. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. S. Heberlein, A. A. Padon, S. J. Gillihan, M. J. Farah, and L. K. Fellows Ventromedial Frontal Lobe Plays a Critical Role in Facial Emotion Recognition J. Cogn. Neurosci., April 1, 2008; 20(4): 721 - 733. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. V. Rauch, P. Ohrmann, J. Bauer, H. Kugel, A. Engelien, V. Arolt, W. Heindel, and T. Suslow Cognitive Coping Style Modulates Neural Responses to Emotional Faces in Healthy Humans: A 3-T fMRI Study Cereb Cortex, November 1, 2007; 17(11): 2526 - 2535. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Schulte-Ruther, H. J. Markowitsch, G. R. Fink, and M. Piefke Mirror Neuron and Theory of Mind Mechanisms Involved in Face-to-Face Interactions: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Approach to Empathy. J. Cogn. Neurosci., August 1, 2007; 19(8): 1354 - 1372. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. I. Weike, A. O. Hamm, H. T. Schupp, U. Runge, H. W. S. Schroeder, and C. Kessler Fear Conditioning following Unilateral Temporal Lobectomy: Dissociation of Conditioned Startle Potentiation and Autonomic Learning J. Neurosci., November 30, 2005; 25(48): 11117 - 11124. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. F Green, B. Olivier, J. N Crawley, D. L Penn, and S. Silverstein Social Cognition in Schizophrenia: Recommendations from the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia New Approaches Conference Schizophr Bull, October 1, 2005; 31(4): 882 - 887. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Mohr, C. M. Michel, G. Lantz, S. Ortigue, I. Viaud-Delmon, and T. Landis Brain State-dependent Functional Hemispheric Specialization in Men but not in Women Cereb Cortex, September 1, 2005; 15(9): 1451 - 1458. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. de Gelder, J. Snyder, D. Greve, G. Gerard, and N. Hadjikhani Fear fosters flight: A mechanism for fear contagion when perceiving emotion expressed by a whole body PNAS, November 23, 2004; 101(47): 16701 - 16706. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. S. Heberlein, R. Adolphs, D. Tranel, and H. Damasio Cortical Regions for Judgments of Emotions and Personality Traits from Point-light Walkers J. Cogn. Neurosci., August 1, 2004; 16(7): 1143 - 1158. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. K. Hietanen and K. M. Korpela Do Both Negative and Positive Environmental Scenes Elicit Rapid Affective Processing? Environment and Behavior, July 1, 2004; 36(4): 558 - 577. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. Decety and P. L. Jackson The Functional Architecture of Human Empathy Behav Cogn Neurosci Rev, June 1, 2004; 3(2): 71 - 100. [Abstract] [PDF]

				R. Adolphs and D. Tranel Impaired Judgments of Sadness But Not Happiness Following Bilateral Amygdala Damage J. Cogn. Neurosci., March 1, 2004; 16(3): 453 - 462. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. A. Roark, S. E. Barrett, M. J. Spence, H. Abdi, and A. J. O'Toole Psychological and neural perspectives on the role of motion in face recognition. Behav Cogn Neurosci Rev, March 1, 2003; 2(1): 15 - 46. [Abstract] [PDF]