Neural processing differences between Chinese emotion-label and emotion-laden words revealed by visual event-related potentials

Abstract

The processing of emotional words plays a crucial role in everyday communication, yet the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying this process remain insufficiently understood. One particularly important question is whether and how emotion-label words (e.g., “happy,” “sad”) and emotion-laden words (e.g., “beauty,” “failure”) differ in neural processing. The present study investigated this issue by recording event-related potentials (ERPs) during a lexical decision task. Fifty-two native Chinese speakers were asked to classify 150 real words (30 positive-label, 30 positive-laden, 30 negative-label, 30 negative-laden, and 30 neutral words) and 150 pseudowords. Behavioral results showed faster reaction times and higher accuracy rates for emotion-label words compared to emotion-laden words. A data-driven mass univariate analysis revealed a significant frontal negative ERP deflection for emotion-label words relative to emotion-laden words around 400 ms after word onset. This emotional frontal effect around 400 ms (labeled as e-FN400) emerged as the most robust ERP difference between the two emotional word types, suggesting unique neurocognitive mechanisms engaged by emotion-label words. Possible functional roles of the e-FN400 are discussed, including its potential reflection of greater semantic density, enhanced episodic familiarity, and stronger embodied emotional activation associated with emotion-label words.