From Social to Symbolic: Investigating the Neural Networks Involved in Emoji and Facial Expression Recognition

Facial expressions and emojis serve as fundamental social cues, yet their neural processing remains distinct. Using swLORETA source reconstruction based on EEG/ERP signals at N170 stage, we analyzed participant-specific brain activations in 50 young, healthy individuals performing an emotion recognition task with real faces and emojis. Behavioral results revealed higher accuracy and faster reaction times for emojis compared to faces consistent with prior electrophysiological findings on P300 amplitude effects. Both stimulus types activated bilateral fusiform areas (BA19/37) and the orbitofrontal cortex. Neuroimaging results also showed that only human facial expressions engaged the medial and superior frontal cortex (BA 10, BA 8), involved in mentalization and Theory of Mind, as well as limbic structures such as the left uncus, associated with instinctual emotion processing, and the left fusiform gyrus BA 19, to a much greater extent. Conversely, emoji recognition recruited bilateral temporal cortices, the right inferior frontal gyrus, and superior parietal cortex—regions implicated in symbolic and semantic processing, akin to numerical cognition. This suggests that while faces are processed as biologically and socially relevant stimuli, emojis are interpreted as abstract symbols. Furthermore, greater hemispheric asymmetry in emoji recognition supports distinct cognitive strategies for decoding schematic versus naturalistic expressions. Overall, our findings indicate that facial expression processing relies on socio-affective networks, whereas emoji recognition engages symbolic, linguistic, and sensorimotor circuits, highlighting fundamental differences in how the human brain processes digital versus natural social cues.