The P1 response was larger and earlier in women than in men, probably suggesting a female preference for the visual signal (infants' faces). This hypothesis is supported by a recent fMRI study showing a stronger activation of the fusiform gyrus in women (compared to men) in response to children's faces [25]. In our study, both P1 and N1 were affected by the emotional content of faces, being earlier (P110) and larger (N160) in response to distressed faces as opposed to neutral faces. These data fit with the available literature which supports the notion of early effects of emotional [14-17] and attentional factors [26-28] in the first stages of visual cortical processing. Overall, the P1 component was larger over the right occipital area in all individuals, and to all stimuli, as clearly visible from the topographic maps in Fig. 5.
