Lecture 11
May 2005
(Updated Dec 2006)
Neuroimaging and attitudes to faces
Neuroimaging + attitudes to faces1. Attraction
(ventral thalamus, medial orbito-frontal cortex)
- attractiveness and social interest interact to determine the ‘reward value’ of faces
1. Avoidance(insula)- disgust expressions- unattractive faces- untrustworthy faces
3. Dynamic emotion- moving faces
Attractive Faces
Attractive Faces O’Doherty et al. 2003
Medial orbital-frontal cortex is a reward centre Activity increased by attractive faces
-3-3
Medial orbito-frontal cortex
Smiling and Neutral Faces
Happy Neutral
Attractiveness and Smiling
Happy Mid-range Neutral0.00
0.05
0.10E
ffec
t si
ze
Effect of attractiveness on medial orbito-frontal cortex greatest when faces are engaging the viewer
1. Attractiveness + social interest
Attractive faces activate ‘reward’ structures more than unattractive faces
Responses to attractive faces biggest when the person is engaging with us (i.e. smiling)
In O’Doherty et al. engagement was signalled by expression
Engagement can also be signalled by direct gaze
GAZE
Averted
Direct
Kampe et al. 2001
Kampe et al. 2001
ventral thalamus activity modulated by attractiveness & gaze direction
1. Attractiveness + social interest
Attractive faces activate ‘reward’ structures more than unattractive faces (ventral thalamus, medial orbito-frontal cortex)
Responses to attractive faces biggest when the person is engaging with us (i.e. smiling, direct gaze)
O’Doherty et al. 2003 Kampe et al. 2001
2. Avoidance
- disgust expressions- unattractive faces- untrustworthy faces
75% disgust 150% disgust
Disgust Expressions & Insula Cortex (Phillips et al. 1997)
Increased insula activity when viewing disgusted faces
2. Avoidance
Insula cortex also activated by disgusting odours
Keyser et al. (2004)
Lateral PFC
+22
Insula
R
Unattractive Faces
Activity increases with unattractive facesO’Doherty et al.
Lateral PFC
+22
Insula
R
Untrustworthy Faces
Increased insula response to faces judged untrustworthy (Winston et al., 2002 Nature Neurosci)
2. Avoidance
Faces we might want to to avoid:
unattractive (possibly unhealthy?)
disgusted (there is a source of contagion about?)
untrustworthy (they’ll cheat us?)
activate the insula cortex
[also disgusting odours]
Attraction and avoidance (Key themes)
Attraction
Ventral thalamus
Medial orbito-frontal cortex
!Approach this person!
Avoidance
Insula cortex
‘disgust region’
!Avoid this person!
Activated by attractive faces (especially if engaging with you)
Activated by unattractive, untrustworthy and
disgusted faces
Dynamic expressions
All the studies we’ve discussed in this course
used static images
Sato et al. asked if facial movements might
communicate important information
Dynamic facial expressions caused more brain activity than static
expressions
Dynamic (non-face) mosaics caused no more brain activity than static
mosaics
Movement matters!
Future directions
Individual differences in neural responses to faces
Use of dynamic faces
Use of computer graphic methods to manipulate
dynamic facial cues
Integration of social and physical cues in perception
Next week
4 key revision topics covered
1. Does attractiveness signal health?
2. Self-resemblance as a cue of kinship
3. Effects of hormonal profile on face preferences
4. Condition-dependent mate preferences