Emotional text messages affect the early processing of emoticons depending on their emotional congruence: evidence from the N170 and EPN event related potentials

• DOI: 10.1007/s10339-024-01223-y
• Publication Date: 2024-08-24T10:04:59Z
• Authors: Nerea Aldunate; Vladimir López; Felipe Rojas-Thomas; Mario Villena-Gon...; Ismael Palacios; Claudio Artigas; Eugenio Rodríguez; Conrado A. Bosman
• Keywords: Emotional expression; Salience (neuroscience); Congruence (geometry); Emotional valence; Negativity bias; Negativity effect

Abstract Emoticons have been considered pragmatic cues that enhance emotional expressivity during computer-mediated communication. Yet, it is unclear how emoticons are processed in ambiguous text-based communication due to incongruences between the emoticon's valence and its context. In this study, we investigated electrophysiological correlates of contextual influence on early processing emoticons, an congruence judgment task. Participants were instructed judge a text message expressing situation (positive or negative), subsequent emoticon positive negative emotions. We analyzed event-related potentials elicited by related face (N170) salience visual perception (Early Posterior Negativity, EPN). Our results show accuracy Reaction Times depend interaction context emoticon. Negative larger N170, suggesting information integrated at stages perceptual process. During processing, effect was observed with enhanced EPN amplitudes occipital areas for representing valences. Moreover, parieto-temporal sites within same time-window, congruent condition. conclude that, similar differently according their content which they embedded. A might (and therefore, expression) processing.