Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Objective: The development of the perception of changes in facial emotion was investigated using eventrelated potentials (ERPs) in children and adults. Methods: Four different conditions were presented: (1) N–H: a neutral face that suddenly changed to a happy face. (2) H–N: reverse of N–H. (3) N–A: a neutral face that suddenly changed to an angry face. (4) A–N: reverse of N–A. Results: In the bilateral posterior temporal areas, a negative component was evoked by all conditions in younger children (7–10 years old), older children (11–14 years old), and adults (23–33 years old) within 150–300 ms. Peak latency was significantly shorter and amplitude was significantly smaller in adults than younger and older children. Moreover, maximum amplitude was significantly larger for N–H and N–A than H–N and A–N in younger children and for N–H than the other three conditions in adults. Conclusion: The areas of the brain involved in perceiving changes in facial emotion have not matured by 14 years of age. Significance: Our study is the first to clarify a difference between children and adults in the perception of facial emotional change.