Sex Differences in the Neural Processing of Emotional Images
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1
University of Tasmania, School of Psychology, Australia
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2
University of Newscatle, School of Psychology, Australia
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3
University of Tasmania, School of Medicine, Australia
Background
Females develop anxiety disorders and depression at twice the rate of men, yet the mechanisms underlying this female vulnerability remain unclear. Researchers have suggested that females may be more reactive to emotional stimuli than males. A fundamental question in the sex differences and emotion field is whether female’s are more reactive to emotional stimuli in general (motivational model) or whether their responding reflects a specific reactivity to unpleasant/threat stimuli (negativity bias).
Methods
To test these competing models, event-related potentials (ERP) were recorded from 40 (n=20 female) participants during an emotional processing task comprising 240 images (80 pleasant, 80 unpleasant/threat, 80 neutral) from the International Affective Picture System.
Results
The negativity bias hypothesis, that ERP amplitudes would be higher for unpleasant relative to pleasant and neutral stimuli for females relative to males, was partially supported as females displayed significantly greater N2 amplitude to unpleasant compared to pleasant and neutral stimuli. In contrast, females displayed significantly greater LPC amplitude to pleasant stimuli compared to males, and there were no sex differences to unpleasant or neutral stimuli.
Discussion
The motivational model was not supported, and there was only partial support for a female negativity bias. Against hypotheses, females displayed greater LPC amplitudes to pleasant stimuli relative to males. This may have resulted from the inclusion of sexual stimuli. An unexpected finding was that males displayed significantly greater N2 amplitude to neutral compared to pleasant and unpleasant stimuli, which may reflect difficulty for males in categorising/recognising emotional stimuli (alexithymia). Research has revealed that sex differences in ERPs disappear when controlling for alexithymia and subclinical depression. Future research needs to balance the valence and arousal of stimuli, and control for alexithymia, mood, and menstrual phase.
Keywords:
sex differences,
emotion processing,
Emotion Theory,
motivational model,
negativity bias hypothesis,
ERP
Conference:
ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference, Clayton, Melbourne, Australia, 28 Nov - 1 Dec, 2013.
Presentation Type:
Poster
Topic:
Emotion and Social
Citation:
Lusk
BR,
Martin
F,
Felmingham
K and
Carr
A
(2013). Sex Differences in the Neural Processing of Emotional Images.
Conference Abstract:
ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2013.212.00073
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Received:
15 Oct 2013;
Published Online:
25 Nov 2013.
*
Correspondence:
Miss. Bethany R Lusk, University of Tasmania, School of Psychology, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, bethanylusk@outlook.com