An event-related potential study on the early processing of crying faces

Crying is an attachment behavior, which in course of evolution had survival value. This study examined the characteristics of the face-sensitive N170, and focused on whether crying expressions evoked different early event-related potential waveforms than other facial expressions. Twenty-five participants viewed photographs of six facial expressions, including crying, and performed an implicit processing task. All stimuli evoked the N170, but the facial expression modulated this component in terms of latency and amplitude to some extent. The event-related potential correlates for crying faces differed mostly from those for neutral and fear faces. The results suggest that facial expressions are processed automatically and rapidly. The strong behavioral and emotional responses to crying appear not to be reflected in the early brain processes of face recognition.