Emotional cross-modal associations in faces

How we perceive a face is not only dependent on its features (e.g. the emotional expression). Also, our previous experience with a person shapes our perception. For example, we react differently to faces of people that we know and have positive associations with, compared to strangers or people that we had negative experiences with. However, how these positive or negative associations are acquired and represented in the brain is not fully understood. This research project has two main aims:

1)   Investigating which stage in face processing is modulated by affective learning when affective information comes from another sensory channel

2)   Exploring the dynamics of emotional associative learning over time

Methods

EEG, Pupillometry, response times (RTs), associative learning

Publications

• Ziereis, A. & Schacht, A. (2023). Motivated attention and task relevance in the processing of cross-modally associated faces: Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence. Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience, 23. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-023-01112-5. 

• Ziereis, A. & Schacht, A. (2023). Gender Congruence and Emotion Effects in Cross-Modal Associative Learning: Insights from ERPs and Pupillary Responses. Psychophysiology. 00:e14380. https://dx.doi.org/DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14380. 

Contact

Dr. Annika Ziereis