As stated above, the ability to recognize faces and facial expressions of emotion are critical for the establishment and maintenance of proper social skills during the entire lifespan. This study seeks to examine the development of the neural bases of these abilties using ERP, or Event Related Potentials.
Electrophysiological Correlates Of The Recognition Of Objects, Faces, And Facial Expressions: An Erp Study
This study uses Event Related Potentials to study activity in certain areas of the brain suspected to play a role in recognizing faces and facial expressions.
ERPs represent electrical activity generated by the brain in response to a stimulus, such as a sound or image. Using a special cap (such as that worn by the baby in the image above our menu bar) with small electrodes that touch the scalp, researchers measure the electrical signals on the scalp generated by particular underlying areas of the brain.
This study will examine differences in spatial activation (what regions of the brain are active) and temporal activation (when the regions are active) during recognition of objects, faces, and facial expressions. The study will examine these differences in the normal brain and in brains with lesions in the amygdala or orbitofrontal cortex.