Does facial expression processing require attention? A multi-lab replication of Eimer et al. (2003)

How the brain processes facial expressions and whether this process requires focal attention have been central topics of neurophysiological research on face processing. In a seminal study, using scalp-recorded event-related potentials (ERPs), Eimer, Holmes, and McGlone (2003) found that emotional and neutral faces were differently processed in the brain as early as 160 ms after stimulus onset. Importantly, these ERP differences disappeared when attention was directed away from the face stimuli, suggesting the necessity of focal attention in facial expression processing. These results have influenced the revision of the Bruce and Young model of face processing, and greatly motivated further research in the field. Yet, subsequent research did not always agree with these findings, and the study was never directly replicated. Hence, this study has been selected by #EEGManyLabs, a global and multi-laboratory replication project, for a high-powered direct replication across multiple laboratories. We hypothesise the replication of the original positive findings, including the ERP effects differentiating emotional and neutral faces and their dependence on focal attention. To address the debate on facial expression processing and the role of N170, we will also take this opportunity to reassess key negative findings of the original study, namely no difference between emotional and neutral facial expressions in N170 and no ERP differences among the six facial expressions. Replication or revision of these findings will confirm the necessity of focal attention in emotional face processing and the postulated biomarkers of basic emotion processing. This study will provide a reproducible benchmark on face processing.