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Subjective memory complaints (SMCs), which occur in the absence of clinical memory deficits, may precede mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or Alzheimer's disease (AD). Some studies have reported a deficit in facial emotion processing in people with MCI or AD. However, it is unclear whether this deficit is also present in older people with SMCs. The present study used behavioral measurements and event‐related potentials (ERPs) to investigate the facial emotion processing of 41 older people with SMCs and 38 without SMCs. The task contained 204 images displaying facial emotions (positive, negative, and neutral). In terms of behavior, our results showed that participants with SMCs were slower and less accurate than controls. In terms of ERPs, the N170 latency was longer in men with SMCs than in controls, whereas no differences were observed between groups in the P300 and late positive potential (LPP) latencies or amplitudes. Moreover, in participants with SMCs, higher P300 and LPP amplitudes were related to better performance on working memory, psychomotor speed, and attention. Additionally, women were faster and more accurate than men on the facial emotion‐processing task. In sum, these results suggest that older people with SMCs may have deficits in the processing of facial expressions of emotion. However, this deficit seems to affect the structural encoding of faces, rather than the late stages of processing. Deficits in facial emotion processing have been reported in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease; however, it is unknown whether these deficits are also present in a previous phase such as subjective memory complaints in older people. Our study suggests that early face structure encoding and emotional valence processing (as reflected in N170 component) could be deteriorated in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has shown gender‐related psychobiological differences in risky and competitive strategies that affect win and loss outcomes. In addition, some studies have found differences in the decision‐making process, with women taking longer to reach the same performance as men. However, the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. The present study aimed to investigate gender differences in behavioral performance and neural correlates during a decision‐making task, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Forty healthy young adults (23 men and 17 women) performed the IGT while the feedback‐related negativity (FRN) and P3 were recorded as neural correlates of feedback processing. No gender differences were observed in the behavioral performance on the IGT after 100 and 150 trials, or in the P3 component. In women, but not in men, the FRN component showed a greater amplitude for losses than for wins. There were no significant gender‐related differences in behavioral performance, and men and women revealed a similar learning process on the IGT. At the neural level, no direct differences between men and women were observed in the feedback processing stage for the FRN or P3. However, our results indicate that women showed greater sensitivity to losses than to wins during the decision‐making task, as reflected in the FRN component. Women are more sensitive to losses than men. However, the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. We observed greater sensitivity to losses than to wins during the decision‐making task only in women. Our results help to understand why men are more sensitive to some behavioral problems related to decision‐making processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]