On the brain struggles to recognize basic facial emotions with face masks: an fMRI study.

Autor:	Abutalebi J; Centre for Neurolinguistics and Psycholinguistics (CNPL), Faculty of Psychology, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy.; The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway., Gallo F; The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.; Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, Higher School of Economics, National Research University, Moscow, Russia., Fedeli D; Centre for Neurolinguistics and Psycholinguistics (CNPL), Faculty of Psychology, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy.; Department of Neuroradiology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy., Houdayer E; Neuropsychology Service, Department of Rehabilitation and Functional Recovery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy., Zangrillo F; Neuropsychology Service, Department of Rehabilitation and Functional Recovery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy., Emedoli D; Neuropsychology Service, Department of Rehabilitation and Functional Recovery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy., Spina A; Department of Neurosurgery and Gamma Knife Radiosurgery, San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy., Bellini C; Centre for Neurolinguistics and Psycholinguistics (CNPL), Faculty of Psychology, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy., Del Maschio N; Centre for Neurolinguistics and Psycholinguistics (CNPL), Faculty of Psychology, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy., Iannaccone S; Neuropsychology Service, Department of Rehabilitation and Functional Recovery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy., Alemanno F; Neuropsychology Service, Department of Rehabilitation and Functional Recovery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Frontiers in psychology [Front Psychol] 2024 Jan 26; Vol. 15, pp. 1339592. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jan 26 (Print Publication: 2024).
DOI:	10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1339592
Abstrakt:	Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic impacted public health and our lifestyles, leading to new social adaptations such as quarantine, social distancing, and facial masks. Face masks, covering extended facial zones, hamper our ability to extract relevant socio-emotional information from others' faces. In this fMRI study, we investigated how face masks interfere with facial emotion recognition, focusing on brain responses and connectivity patterns as a function of the presence of a face mask. Methods: A total of 25 healthy participants (13F; mean age: 32.64 ± 7.24y; mean education: 18.28 ± 1.31y) were included. Participants underwent task-related fMRI during the presentation of images of faces expressing basic emotions (joy or fear versus neutral expression). Half of the faces were covered by a face mask. Subjects had to recognize the facial emotion (masked or unmasked). FMRI whole-brain and regions-of-interest analyses were performed, as well as psychophysiological interaction analysis (PPI). Results: Subjects recognized better and faster emotions on unmasked faces. FMRI analyses showed that masked faces induced a stronger activation of a right occipito-temporal cluster, including the fusiform gyrus and the occipital face area bilaterally. The same activation pattern was found for the neutral masked > neutral unmasked contrast. PPI analyses of the masked > unmasked contrast showed, in the right occipital face area, a stronger correlation with the left superior frontal gyrus, left precentral gyrus, left superior parietal lobe, and the right supramarginal gyrus. Discussion: Our study showed how our brain differentially struggles to recognize face-masked basic emotions, implementing more neural resources to correctly categorize those incomplete facial expressions. Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. (Copyright © 2024 Abutalebi, Gallo, Fedeli, Houdayer, Zangrillo, Emedoli, Spina, Bellini, Del Maschio, Iannaccone and Alemanno.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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