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Diminished Neural Responses to Emotionally Valenced Facial Stimuli: A Potential Biomarker for Unemotional Traits in Early Childhood

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Abstract

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are characterized by deficits in guilt/empathy, shallow affect, and the callous and manipulative use of others. Individuals showing CU traits have increased risk for behavior problems and reduced responses to displays of distress in others. To explore how deficits in emotion-processing are associated with CU traits, the current study examined the association between callous-unemotionality and a neural index of facial emotion processing, using the event-related potential technique in a group of 3–5 year olds. Children viewed a series of static emotional faces, depicting either fear or happiness, while electroencephalography data were collected. The N170 component, thought to index the neural processes associated with face perception, was examined along with CU traits. Findings suggest that the unemotional dimension of CU traits is associated with diminished emotion-processing responses to fearful faces. Reduced neural responses to facial depictions of fear could be a biomarker for unemotional traits in early childhood.

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Acknowledgements

This project was supported by a Project Development Team within the ICTSI NIH/NCRR Grant Number TR000006 and the Department of Criminal Justice, Indiana University Bloomington. Caroline Hoyniak is supported by a Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation Grant Number 1342962. Dr. Nathalie Fontaine is a Research Scholar, Junior 1, Fonds de recherche du Québec–Santé. We thank Professors Dennis Molfese, Aina Puce and Bennett Bertenthal for their support, and gratefully acknowledge the contribution of the research assistants, families, and children.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Caroline P. Hoyniak, John E. Bates & Chung-Lin Yang

  2. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Isaac T. Petersen

  3. Department of Second Language Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Isabelle Darcy

  4. School of Criminology, University of Montreal, Pavillon Lionel-Groulx, C. P. 6128, succursale Centre-ville, Montreal, QC, H3C 3J7, Canada

    Nathalie M. G. Fontaine

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  1. Caroline P. Hoyniak
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  2. John E. Bates
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  3. Isaac T. Petersen
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  5. Isabelle Darcy
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  6. Nathalie M. G. Fontaine
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Correspondence to Nathalie M. G. Fontaine.

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Hoyniak, C.P., Bates, J.E., Petersen, I.T. et al. Diminished Neural Responses to Emotionally Valenced Facial Stimuli: A Potential Biomarker for Unemotional Traits in Early Childhood. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 50, 72–82 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-018-0821-9

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