Date of Award
2015
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Psychology
Abstract
Emotion and cognitive function interact to play a central role in determining
human thought and behavior. Attention to emotion can facilitate or hinder cognitive
control efforts based on the given contextual demands of the task at hand. This study used
scalp electroencephalography (EEG) methods to examine the link between valence of
facial stimuli and neural changes associated with emotional face processing and
subsequent inhibitory response. 20 participants completed a gender discrimination stop-
signal task using emotional faces. Facial valence did not differentially modulate the P200
event-related potential (ERP), indicating that happy and sad faces recruit similar neural
resources in the context of implicit emotional processing. However, facial valence did
significantly affect participant accuracy during response trials of gender discrimination.
Trials of sad faces resulted in a higher accuracy in comparison to trials of happy faces.
No significant modulation of the frontal P300 due to facial valence was observed. These
results suggest that while facial valence may not modulate neural response during
implicit processing of affective facial stimuli and subsequent inhibitory response,
differences can be observed in behavioral response.
Recommended Citation
Kais, Lorri A., "Neural Correlates of Inhibitory Function Following the Implicit Processing of Emotional Faces" (2015). Master's Theses. 2895.
https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/2895
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2015 Lorri A. Kais
