Neural correlates of emotion perception depending on culture and gaze direction

A person's cultural background as well as their gaze direction have been identified as relevant factors that influence the behavioural and neural processing of emotional expressions. However, research on their combined influence is sparse. Here, we manipulated the cultural background and gaze direction of emotion- encoders to investigate the interaction of both factors during the neural processing of emotions. Stimuli consisted of short video sequences showing faces that dis- played either direct or averted gaze, expressed either anger or happiness, and rep- resented either cultural in-group (European faces) or cultural out-group members (Asian faces). While undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging, a group of German participants rated the stimuli with respect to their valence. Results revealed that when anger was expressed with direct gaze, more activation was found in the