The Effect of Aging on the Dual-Route Model of Emotion Processing Applied to Memory Recognition

Emotional faces are automatically processed in the human brain through a cortical route (conscious processing based on high spatial frequencies, HSF) and a subcortical route (subliminal processing based on low spatial frequencies, LSF). How each route contributes to emotional face recognition is still debated, and little is known about this process in aging. Method: Here, 147 younger adults (YA) and 137 older adults (OA) were passively presented with neutral, happy, and angry faces, shown as (a) unfiltered, (b) filtered at LSF, and (c) hybrid (emotional LSF superimposed to the neutral HSF of the same face). In a succeeding recognition phase, the same faces and new faces were shown as unfiltered, and participants were asked whether each face had been already presented in the encoding phase. Results: Despite the better performance by YA compared with OA for neutral faces presented as unfiltered (cortical route), the performance of OA was better than that of YA for angry faces presented as hybrid and for happy faces presented at LSF and as hybrid. Conclusions: We conclude that the activity of the subcortical route during the encoding phase facilitates emotional recognition in aging. Results are discussed in accordance with the dual-route model.