Faces with emotional information–by virtue of their expression or their history of affective learning–are prioritized during neuronal processing as compared to neutral faces. Classical conditioning studies have shown that aversively conditioned (CS+) faces potentiate different face processing stages as evidenced by increased early and late event-related potential (ERPs) components. However, it is unknown whether and how ERP modulations depend on certain attentional conditions. To examine this question, this preregistered study investigated ERPs to faces paired with aversive screams or neutral sounds under three tasks with increasing attention to CS + relevant features of the face: Participants (N = 40) had to discriminate either the orientation of superimposed lines, perceived gender, or the CS association. We found potentiation of the N170, the Early Posterior Negativity (EPN), and, most remarkably, the Late Positive Potential (LPP) to CS + faces regardless of task condition. This finding suggests that, in contrast to other types of emotional information and learning, classical conditioning boosts early and late processing stages, even if no explicit attention to the face information or the CS association is required.

与中性面孔相比，在神经元处理过程中，具有情感信息的面孔——根据他们的表情或他们的情感学习历史——被优先考虑。经典条件反射研究表明，反感条件 (CS+) 面部增强了不同的面部处理阶段，早期和晚期事件相关电位 (ERP) 组件的增加证​​明了这一点。然而，尚不清楚 ERP 调制是否以及如何依赖于某些注意条件。为了检查这个问题，这项预先注册的研究调查了在三个任务下与厌恶的尖叫声或中性声音配对的面孔的 ERP，越来越关注 CS + 面部的相关特征：参与者（N = 40) 必须区分叠加线的方向、感知的性别或 CS 关联。我们发现 N170 的增强、早期后负性 (EPN) 以及最显着的是 CS + 面孔的晚期正电位 (LPP)，无论任务条件如何。这一发现表明，与其他类型的情绪信息和学习相比，经典条件反射促进了早期和晚期的处理阶段，即使不需要明确关注面部信息或 CS 关联。