Neural correlates of emotion perception depending on culture and gaze direction

Abstract

Abstract A person’s cultural background as well as their gaze direction have been identified as relevant factors that influence the behavioural and neural processing of emotional expressions. However, research on their combined influence is sparse. Here, we manipulated the cultural background and gaze direction of emotionencoders to investigate the interaction of both factors during the neural processing of emotions. Stimuli consisted of short video sequences showing faces that displayed either direct or averted gaze, expressed either anger or happiness, and represented either cultural in-group (European faces) or cultural out-group members (Asian faces). While undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging, a group of German participants rated the stimuli with respect to their valence. Results revealed that when anger was expressed with direct gaze, more activation was found in the dorsomedial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices in response to cultural out-group compared to in-group members. However, when anger was expressed with averted gaze, activity increased in the amygdala and the striatum in response to cultural ingroup compared to out-group members. With respect to happiness, enhanced neural activation in medial and lateral prefrontal cortical areas was associated with the processing of cultural in-group compared to out-group members expressing happiness with direct gaze. These findings indicate a complex interplay between culture, gaze direction and the valence of emotions.