Post hoc comparisons showed a trend for greater activation in the left compared to the right AMG for fearful task‐relevant faces, F (1, 19) = 3.98, p = 0.060, while there was no asymmetry for task‐irrelevant faces, F (1, 19) = 0.38, p = 0.54.
Additionally, there was a trend toward significance for the main effect of Emotion , F (1, 19) = 3.17, p = 0.091, η 2 p = 0.143, suggesting a tendency for greater activation to fearful than neutral faces overall, consistent with prior reports (Vuilleumier et al. 2001 ; Hadj‐Bouziane et al. 2012 ).
This effect was twice as large in the FEF compared to the vertex group but failed to reach statistical significance (FEF: M = 76 ms; VTX: M = 39.8 ms; p = 0.493). 3.1.3 Control Analysis for Inter‐Individual Differences in Reaction Times To assess whether the observed behavioral effects were robust to inter‐individual differences in overall reaction times, data were additionally normalized within subjects using z ‐score transformation based on the eight condition‐wise mean RTs (TMS × Emotion × Attention), and re‐analyzed using the same ANOVA models.
In addition, a weak trend toward increased activation for fearful compared to neutral faces was observed, suggesting a secondary and more limited influence of emotional content alongside the dominant top‐down effects of attention on this cortical area.
Finally, a possible hemispheric asymmetry was suggested by a trend‐level Attention × Hemisphere interaction, F (1, 19) = 3.68, p = 0.070, η 2 p = 0.162; however, this effect did not reach statistical significance and is therefore reported descriptively.