Face expectancy cues differentially modulate conflict processing driven by emotional incongruence: An EEG study

Abstract Adaptive behavior in social interactions requires the effective processing of conflicting emotional information. The impact of expectancy on conflict processing remains a relevant research question. Here we investigated the influence of primed expectancy on conflict processing. To achieve this goal, we used the Emotional Stroop paradigm and variants where expectancy was introduced using facial expression or emotional letter labels. Neurophysiological and behavioral data were collected from 20 healthy participants who completed these three conditions (in the presence or absence of prior expectancy cues). We first replicated previous findings by showing higher amplitudes of N400 and Conflict Slow Potential for the incongruent trials during the classical Emotional Stroop condition. When expectancy was introduced, we found a significant effect on conflict processing, with a striking difference between face and letter emotion cues. Parietal alpha and beta power decreases occurred specifically for face expectancy cues, which were attenuated by conflict processing. These findings suggest that attentional resources are differently prioritized by face versus letter emotion expectancy cues, with an impact on performance, with face-driven expectancy generating distinctive neurophysiological patterns and facilitating subsequent conflict resolution.