Academic Journal
View in EDS

Effective connectivity in the active encoding of facial emotions: a dynamic causal modeling study.

Bibliographic Details
Title: Effective connectivity in the active encoding of facial emotions: a dynamic causal modeling study.
Authors: Guodong W; Department of Psychiatry, Fuzhou Neuropsychiatric Hospital Affiliated to Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China., Saizheng W; Department of Psychiatry, Fuzhou Neuropsychiatric Hospital Affiliated to Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China., Jiawu J; Department of Psychiatry, Fuzhou Neuropsychiatric Hospital Affiliated to Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China., Yuanyuan X; Hui Wen Middle School, Dalian, China., Zirong Y; Department of Gastroenterology, Affiliated Zhongshan Hospital of Dalian University, Dalian, China., Lili N; School of Psychology, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China. nielili1840@lnnu.edu.cn.
Source: Experimental brain research [Exp Brain Res] 2026 Oct 05; Vol. 244 (11). Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Oct 05.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Language: English
Journal Info: Publisher: Springer Verlag Country of Publication: Germany NLM ID: 0043312 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1432-1106 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00144819 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Exp Brain Res Subsets: MEDLINE
Imprint Name(s): Original Publication: Berlin : Springer Verlag
MeSH Terms: Emotions*/physiology , Facial Recognition*/physiology , Facial Expression* , Models, Neurological*, Neural Pathways/physiology ; Humans ; Male ; Female ; Young Adult ; Electroencephalography ; Adult ; Bayes Theorem ; Photic Stimulation
Abstract: Previous studies have identified brain regions involved in the active encoding of emotional content of facial expressions (ECFEs); however, little is known about how these regions interact within a functional network. Electroencephalography data were recorded from 62 healthy university students performing a delayed match-to-sample task in which facial expressions served as both encoding and interfering stimuli. Dynamic causal modeling was applied to examine encoding-related modulations of effective connectivity among six nodes in bilateral inferior occipital, inferior temporal, and inferior frontal gyri. During the early time window (1-200 ms), encoding modulated almost all the connectivities including reduced bottom-up excitatory and strengthened top-down inhibitory visual-temporal connectivities, strengthened bidirectional visual-frontal connectivities, and reduced bidirectional temporal-frontal connectivities. During the later window (200-400 ms), only a subset of connectivities was modulated, marked by strengthened top-down excitatory and inhibitory connectivities from frontal and temporal regions to visual areas. Modulation strength was not reliably associated with behavioral performance. Exploratory Bayesian model selection within a restricted model space showed a numerical advantage for a bottom-up excitatory model during encoding and a top-down excitatory model during interference suppression under fixed-effects modeling; however, random-effects analysis indicated that this preference was modest and not uniform across participants. These findings suggest that the active encoding of ECFEs is supported, but not determined, by directional interactions among brain modules, implicating strengthened high-order top-down control over posterior sensory areas, together with functional decoupling of face-sensitive areas from ongoing visual input.
(© 2026. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)
Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: All procedures of this study were performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and were approved by Ethics Committee of Liaoning Normal University. All participants gave written informed consent prior to taking part in this study. Consent for publication: Informed consent was obtained from each participant before the assessment. Competing Interest: The authors declare no competing interests.
References: Front Behav Neurosci. 2019 Apr 17;13:84. (PMID: 31057376)
Front Neurosci. 2018 Sep 28;12:598. (PMID: 30356864)
Front Syst Neurosci. 2015 Dec 18;9:173. (PMID: 26733825)
Neuroimage. 2011 Apr 15;55(4):1694-708. (PMID: 21238593)
J Neural Eng. 2024 Feb 09;21(1):. (PMID: 38290158)
Curr Opin Psychol. 2022 Feb;43:85-90. (PMID: 34303128)
Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2018 Jul;2018:2752-2755. (PMID: 30440971)
Annu Rev Neurosci. 2001;24:167-202. (PMID: 11283309)
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Sep 22;117(38):23477-23483. (PMID: 32900940)
Nature. 2004 Apr 15;428(6984):748-51. (PMID: 15085132)
J Neurosci. 2013 Apr 3;33(14):6018-26. (PMID: 23554483)
Psychol Bull. 1994 Mar;115(2):268-87. (PMID: 8165272)
Neuroimage. 2014 Jan 1;84:476-87. (PMID: 24041874)
J Neural Eng. 2020 Apr 29;17(2):026039. (PMID: 32163933)
Front Comput Neurosci. 2013 May 28;7:57. (PMID: 23755005)
Front Comput Neurosci. 2014 Nov 13;8:146. (PMID: 25431557)
Comput Intell Neurosci. 2011;2011:852961. (PMID: 21437221)
Biol Psychol. 2016 May;117:141-149. (PMID: 26995785)
Cereb Cortex. 2017 Feb 1;27(2):1524-1531. (PMID: 26759479)
Neuropsychologia. 2007 Jan 7;45(1):15-31. (PMID: 16797614)
J Affect Disord. 2010 Jun;123(1-3):270-5. (PMID: 19755202)
Brain Res Cogn Brain Res. 2002 Dec;15(1):31-45. (PMID: 12433381)
Biol Psychol. 2025 Jan;194:108980. (PMID: 39743176)
Trends Cogn Sci. 2000 Jun;4(6):223-233. (PMID: 10827445)
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2020 Jul 1;15(5):587-597. (PMID: 32367139)
Neuroimage. 2008 Oct 1;42(4):1490-8. (PMID: 18639641)
Neuroimage. 2019 Jul 15;195:261-271. (PMID: 30940611)
Neuroreport. 2026 Mar 04;37(4):145-154. (PMID: 41817453)
J Cogn Neurosci. 2010 Jun;22(6):1224-34. (PMID: 19413473)
Science. 2007 Mar 30;315(5820):1860-2. (PMID: 17395832)
Annu Rev Psychol. 2015 Jan 3;66:115-42. (PMID: 25251486)
Neuroimage. 2003 Aug;19(4):1273-302. (PMID: 12948688)
Neuroimage. 2009 Jul 15;46(4):1004-17. (PMID: 19306932)
Neuroimage. 2006 May 1;30(4):1255-72. (PMID: 16473023)
Nature. 2021 Apr;592(7855):601-605. (PMID: 33790467)
Annu Rev Psychol. 2012;63:1-29. (PMID: 21961947)
Cortex. 2020 Sep;130:362-386. (PMID: 32745728)
Trends Cogn Sci. 2012 Feb;16(2):129-35. (PMID: 22209601)
Behav Cogn Neurosci Rev. 2002 Mar;1(1):21-62. (PMID: 17715585)
Trends Cogn Sci. 2003 Sep;7(9):415-423. (PMID: 12963473)
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2012 Mar;1251:E1-24. (PMID: 23025352)
J Neurophysiol. 2021 Nov 1;126(5):1642-1652. (PMID: 34614362)
Transl Psychiatry. 2023 Oct 28;13(1):334. (PMID: 37898626)
Behav Brain Res. 2021 Jul 9;409:113263. (PMID: 33775776)
Prog Neurobiol. 1998 Jul;55(4):343-61. (PMID: 9654384)
Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2026 Aug;11(8):903-911. (PMID: 39805554)
Front Hum Neurosci. 2024 Mar 04;18:1339728. (PMID: 38501039)
Neuroimage. 2010 Feb 15;49(4):3099-109. (PMID: 19914382)
Cogn Neurodyn. 2024 Dec;18(6):4033-4045. (PMID: 39712103)
Dev Neuropsychol. 2010;35(2):129-55. (PMID: 20390599)
Brain Commun. 2020 Dec 10;2(2):fcaa212. (PMID: 33409493)
Int J Psychophysiol. 2014 Sep;93(3):398-410. (PMID: 24950133)
Grant Information: L22BSH008 Liaoning Provincial Office of Philosophy and Social Science
Contributed Indexing: Keywords: Active encoding; Dynamic causal modeling (DCM); Effective connectivity; Electroencephalography; Facial emotions
Entry Date(s): Date Created: 20261005 Date Completed: 20261005 Latest Revision: 20261008
Update Code: 20261008
DOI: 10.1007/s00221-026-07406-7
PMID: 42832059
Database: MEDLINE
Description
ISSN:1432-1106
DOI:10.1007/s00221-026-07406-7