Temporal cortex activation reveals emotional multisensory integration in preschoolers: An fNIRS study

Emotional multisensory integration is the process through which individuals form consistent emotional perceptions by combining information from various senses. Although this process has been well studied in early life and adulthood, limited attention was paid to its characteristics and neural mechan...

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Main Authors: Yahui Xue, Huan Deng, Mengnan Lu, Mingjia Chen, Yichao Fu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-08-01
Series:NeuroImage
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811925003866
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author Yahui Xue
Huan Deng
Mengnan Lu
Mingjia Chen
Yichao Fu
author_facet Yahui Xue
Huan Deng
Mengnan Lu
Mingjia Chen
Yichao Fu
author_sort Yahui Xue
collection DOAJ
description Emotional multisensory integration is the process through which individuals form consistent emotional perceptions by combining information from various senses. Although this process has been well studied in early life and adulthood, limited attention was paid to its characteristics and neural mechanisms in preschoolers. This study utilized functional near-infrared spectroscopy to explore the mechanisms by which preschoolers recognize happiness and anger in visual, auditory, and audiovisual conditions. Behavioral results showed that children were more accurate and faster in the audiovisual condition, especially for anger recognition. Neuroimaging results revealed increased activation in bilateral superior temporal gyrus and the left middle temporal gyrus during audiovisual tasks. Furthermore, happiness elicited stronger cortical responses than anger, yet no evidence of hemispheric lateralization was found. These findings enhance our comprehension of how children integrate emotions in audiovisual contexts and suggest potential interventions for populations with emotional perception challenges.
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institution DOAJ
issn 1095-9572
language English
publishDate 2025-08-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series NeuroImage
spelling doaj-art-e676f2bb501748b8bdc235d2d1d189802025-08-20T03:08:33ZengElsevierNeuroImage1095-95722025-08-0131712138310.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121383Temporal cortex activation reveals emotional multisensory integration in preschoolers: An fNIRS studyYahui Xue0Huan Deng1Mengnan Lu2Mingjia Chen3Yichao Fu4School of Education, Huaibei Normal University, Huaibei, China; School of Psychology, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, ChinaSchool of Education, Huaibei Normal University, Huaibei, China; Anhui Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Computing and Application on Cognitive Behavior, Huaibei, China; Corresponding author at: School of Education, Huaibei Normal University, No. 8, Tuohe Rd, Lieshan District, Huaibei, 235000, China.School of Education, Huaibei Normal University, Huaibei, ChinaSchool of Education, Huaibei Normal University, Huaibei, ChinaSchool of Education, Huaibei Normal University, Huaibei, ChinaEmotional multisensory integration is the process through which individuals form consistent emotional perceptions by combining information from various senses. Although this process has been well studied in early life and adulthood, limited attention was paid to its characteristics and neural mechanisms in preschoolers. This study utilized functional near-infrared spectroscopy to explore the mechanisms by which preschoolers recognize happiness and anger in visual, auditory, and audiovisual conditions. Behavioral results showed that children were more accurate and faster in the audiovisual condition, especially for anger recognition. Neuroimaging results revealed increased activation in bilateral superior temporal gyrus and the left middle temporal gyrus during audiovisual tasks. Furthermore, happiness elicited stronger cortical responses than anger, yet no evidence of hemispheric lateralization was found. These findings enhance our comprehension of how children integrate emotions in audiovisual contexts and suggest potential interventions for populations with emotional perception challenges.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811925003866Emotional multisensory integrationTemporal cortexPreschoolersFunctional near-infrared spectroscopy
spellingShingle Yahui Xue
Huan Deng
Mengnan Lu
Mingjia Chen
Yichao Fu
Temporal cortex activation reveals emotional multisensory integration in preschoolers: An fNIRS study
NeuroImage
Emotional multisensory integration
Temporal cortex
Preschoolers
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy
title Temporal cortex activation reveals emotional multisensory integration in preschoolers: An fNIRS study
title_full Temporal cortex activation reveals emotional multisensory integration in preschoolers: An fNIRS study
title_fullStr Temporal cortex activation reveals emotional multisensory integration in preschoolers: An fNIRS study
title_full_unstemmed Temporal cortex activation reveals emotional multisensory integration in preschoolers: An fNIRS study
title_short Temporal cortex activation reveals emotional multisensory integration in preschoolers: An fNIRS study
title_sort temporal cortex activation reveals emotional multisensory integration in preschoolers an fnirs study
topic Emotional multisensory integration
Temporal cortex
Preschoolers
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811925003866
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AT huandeng temporalcortexactivationrevealsemotionalmultisensoryintegrationinpreschoolersanfnirsstudy
AT mengnanlu temporalcortexactivationrevealsemotionalmultisensoryintegrationinpreschoolersanfnirsstudy
AT mingjiachen temporalcortexactivationrevealsemotionalmultisensoryintegrationinpreschoolersanfnirsstudy
AT yichaofu temporalcortexactivationrevealsemotionalmultisensoryintegrationinpreschoolersanfnirsstudy