Judgements of facial and vocal signs of emotion in infants with Down syndrome

We address how adults perceive facial and vocal signs of emotions in infants with and without Down syndrome. A set of naturalistic data from infants with trisomy 21 and typically developing infants (joy expression of young infants, 3.8-4.4 months, and anger and neutral expressions of older infants, 6.8-12.8 months) was rated by adult judges categorically or dimensionally. Facial signs alone, vocal signs alone, and both facial and vocal signs were presented for each expression. Raters were university students who did not have regular contact with infants, nor with people with mental retardation. Young infants' joy expressions were correctly recognized more frequently for typically developing infants than for infants with Down syndrome and, specifically, joy vocalizations in infants with Down syndrome were not identified. Facial signs were also more communicative than vocal signs in the case of older infants' anger and neutral expressions. These results are relevant to the way infant emotion is perceived by others, and may be particularly useful in facilitating interaction between adults and infants with Down syndrome.     

Variation of temporal order reveals deficits in categorisation of facial expressions in patients afflicted with depression

Introduction: It is well established that depressive disorders are associated with abnormalities in the processing of affective information. However, type of stimuli, perceptual complexity and cognitive demand are important factors in evaluating these findings. In particular, processing mechanisms of perceptual boundaries in ecologically valid face stimuli are largely unknown in depression.

Methods: In the current study, intensity-ordered frame sequences provided a dynamic visualisation of happy or sad facial expressions fading from or to neutral expressions. Patients (n?=?20) with major depression (MD) disorder and controls (n?=?20) indicated their perceptual boundaries between neutral and emotional face depending on direction and emotion. The averaged time of the perceptual boundary entered a group?×?condition ANOVA and regression analysis.

Results: MD group did not systematically shift perceptual boundaries in the dynamic emotional faces but yielded altered statistics in information processing. The Gaussian distribution of boundary judgements was disturbed in depression, increasing goodness-of-fit errors in disappearing emotions. Goodness-of-fit correlated with depression symptom score (Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II)) in the MD group during the disappearing sad (r(18)?=?46, p?=?0.04) and happy (r(18)?=?51, p?=?0.02) conditions.

Conclusion: We evaluated detection of appearing and disappearing emotions in dynamic faces. A deviant distribution of categorisation responses emerged in the MD group, which was not emotion-specific. Such a perceptional uncertainty can impede individuals’ functioning in interpersonal interaction.     

Schizophrenic patients show facial reactions to emotional facial expressions

Facial reactions in schizophrenic patients were assessed via electromyography (EMG) in response to pictures of facial expressions. Male patients and nonpatient controls viewed photographs of positive and negative facial expressions while EMG activity from the corrugator and zygomatic muscle regions was recorded. Both schizophrenic patients and controls exhibited greater zygomatic reactivity in response to positive pictures than in response to negative pictures and greater corrugator reactivity in response to negative pictures than in response to positive pictures. Schizophrenic patients exhibited greater corrugator reactivity than did nonpatient controls. Implications for understanding emotion expression and perception in schizophrenic patients are discussed.     

Impaired facial expression recognition in patients with social anxiety disorder: a case-control study

Introduction: The aim of this study was to investigate whether social anxiety disorder (SAD) patients have low emotion recognition accuracy, take longer for emotion recognition and tended to interpret a stimulus more negatively than controls.

Methods: Fifty-six SAD patients and 56 healthy controls were participated in this study. We evaluated facial emotion recognition using a computer program in which participants chose one of seven emotions as displayed in each of 55 photographs of faces. We compared the accuracy and reaction times of the patients and controls. We further analysed which emotions were selected in the incorrect answers.

Results: SAD patients showed delayed reaction times for all emotions except anger and lower accuracy for fear, surprise, neutrality and happiness compared to controls. After applying Bonferroni correction, only delayed reaction time for surprise and happiness were remain significant. Neutrality was not mistaken for a negative emotion at a higher rate by SAD patients than by controls.

Conclusion: This result suggests that the alterations of reaction time and accuracy of emotion recognition of SAD patients, especially in emotions with positive valence, play a more important role than negative bias in the cognitive aspects of SAD.     

Subtypes of anhedonia and facial electromyography response to negative affective pictures in non-psychiatric adults

Introduction. Flat/constricted affect and anhedonia are symptoms found in several psychiatric disorders such as depression and schizophrenia. However, there are very few studies on the relationships between specific anhedonia subtypes and objectively assessed flat affect, and it appears that none of the existing studies examined potential moderation by sex.

Methods. Forty-seven undergraduate students (60% male) completed self-report questionnaires assessing three subtypes of anhedonia – non-social consummatory (CON) and anticipatory (ANT) anhedonia, and overall social anhedonia. Participants viewed 15 pictures (5 neutral and 10 negative) from the International Affective Picture System, whereas facial muscle reaction was recorded using electromyography (EMG).

Results. Male participants reporting a greater level of overall social or non-social CON anhedonia showed a greater EMG activity increase in the corrugator supercilii muscle to negative (vs. neutral) pictures. In females, the relationship was only found with social anhedonia and was opposite in direction, as increased social anhedonia related to less EMG activity change in the corrugator muscle.

Conclusions. The relationship between anhedonia and flat affect varied as a function of sex and anhedonia subtype. These findings may help explain discrepancies in the sparse existing literature examining this relationship in psychiatric populations and have implications for assessment and treatment of these symptoms across psychiatric disorders.     

Emotional facial expressions during REM sleep dreams

Although motor activity is actively inhibited during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, specific activations of the facial mimetic musculature have been observed during this stage, which may be associated with greater emotional dream mentation. Nevertheless, no specific biomarker of emotional valence or arousal related to dream content has been identified to date. In order to explore the electromyographic (EMG) activity (voltage, number, density and duration) of the corrugator and zygomaticus major muscles during REM sleep and its association with emotional dream mentation, this study performed a series of experimental awakenings after observing EMG facial activations during REM sleep. The study was performed with 12 healthy female participants using an 8‐hr nighttime sleep recording. Emotional tone was evaluated by five blinded judges and final valence and intensity scores were obtained. Emotions were mentioned in 80.4% of dream reports. The voltage, number, density and duration of facial muscle contractions were greater for the corrugator muscle than for the zygomaticus muscle, whereas high positive emotions predicted the number (R² 0.601, p = 0.0001) and voltage (R² 0.332, p = 0.005) of the zygomaticus. Our findings suggest that zygomaticus events were predictive of the experience of positive affect during REM sleep in healthy women.     

Electromyographic responses to static and dynamic avatar emotional facial expressions

Facial muscular reactions to avatars' static (neutral, happy, angry) and dynamic (morphs developing from neutral to happy or angry) facial expressions, presented for 1 s each, were investigated in 48 participants. Dynamic expressions led to better recognition rates and higher intensity and realism ratings. Angry expressions were rated as more intense than happy expressions. EMG recordings indicated emotion-specific reactions to happy avatars as reflected in increased M. zygomaticus major and decreased M. corrugator supercilii tension, with stronger reactions to dynamic as compared to static expressions. Although rated as more intense, angry expressions elicited no significant M. corrugator supercilii activation. We conclude that facial reactions to angry and to happy facial expressions hold different functions in social interactions. Further research should vary dynamics in different ways and also include additional emotional expressions.     

Nurse responsiveness to cancer patient expressions of emotion

Objective

This theoretically based study examined nurse responses to cancer patient expressions of emotion using a videotaped, simulated cancer patient.

Methods

This study used an experimental crossover design with a videotaped patient expressing anger, sadness, and neutral emotion to elicit nurse responses. Seventy-four nurses from eight sites participated. Responses were coded using Roter interaction analysis system. Correlations explored relationships between variables that impact communication (age, gender, work experience, trait anxiety, work stress, self-efficacy). Regression models explored the effect of variables on nurse affective responsiveness.

Results

Patient expressions of sadness elicited more affective responses than anger. Expressions of anger or neutral emotion elicited more instrumental behaviors than sadness. Variables such as age, work stress and work experience were significantly correlated. No variables predicted affective responsiveness to patient expressions of anger or sadness.

Conclusion

Nurse communication showed significant variation in response to patient emotional expressions. Understanding the relationships between demographic, personality, and work variables, and identification of new variables that influence nurse–patient communication, has implications for interventional studies.

Practice implications

Over 90% of the participants indicated that the videotape simulation would be a useful method for teaching and practicing communication skills with patients expressing emotions.     

Recognition of emotional facial expressions in benzodiazepine dependence and detoxification

Introduction: The study investigates how benzodiazepine (BZD) use and detoxification affects empathy and the recognition and intensity rating of emotional facial expressions. The sample comprised 43 participants in three groups: (1) during detoxification (N?=?13), (2) after detoxification (N?=?15), (3) a matched control group (N?=?15). Clinical subjects were recruited from in-patients of an addiction treatment unit.

Methods: Empathy levels were tested with the Empathy Quotient (EQ-Short). Recognition accuracy and emotion intensity rating were based on a computerised task displaying static and dynamic facial expressions of joy, anger, sadness, and fear.

Results: The controls proved more accurate than both experimental groups in identifying facial expressions of negative emotions. Joy recognition proved most accurate overall. Among the clinical subjects, women in particular exhibited an impaired ability to correctly identify negative emotions from facial expressions. Dynamic stimuli were better recognised than static ones albeit only in the experimental groups. No significant differences were found for emotion intensity ratings and EQ scores.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the impaired facial emotion recognition accuracy is not caused by deficits in empathy. No improvement was recorded post-detoxification which may indicate impaired interpersonal functioning among BZD users. Further research is warranted in light of this study’s limitations.     

幼儿面孔表情认知反应的相关因素

目的:探讨影响幼儿表情认知反应的个体和家庭相关因素。方法:采用方便取样,选取90名1.5~3岁幼儿(男55例,女35例),记录其对面孔表情图的认知反应,同时用1~3岁幼儿气质量表、家庭因素和亲子关系情况调查表、婴幼儿社会认知发展筛查量表进行调查。将表情认知反应各原始变量进行因子分析提取公因子,再用偏相关分析和多重回归分析,探讨幼儿表情认知反应各公因子与气质特征、家庭因素及社会认知能力各因素的关系。结果:多重回归分析显示,多个自变量与表情认知反应各公因子有明显相关,包括心境(Beta=-0.214)、节律性(Beta=0.217)、言语发育水平(Beta=0.289),及家庭环境中多个因素包括父母亲性格(父亲内/外向Beta=0.278、母亲内/外向Beta=-0.263,母亲敏感/不敏感Beta=0.260)、父亲和带养人文化(Beta=0.259,0.244)、母亲产后情绪(Beta=0.347)、母亲行为(Beta=0.231)、家庭经济(Beta=-0.217,0.257)以及家庭氛围(Beta=-0.281)(P<0.05)。结论:正常幼儿表情认知反应不仅与其气质特征和语言能力有关,也与多个家庭环境因素有关。     

Alexithymic features and automatic amygdala reactivity to facial emotion

Alexithymic individuals have difficulties in identifying and verbalizing their emotions. The amygdala is known to play a central role in processing emotion stimuli and in generating emotional experience. In the present study automatic amygdala reactivity to facial emotion was investigated as a function of alexithymia (as assessed by the 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale). The Beck-Depression Inventory (BDI) and the State-Trait-Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were administered to measure participants' depressivity and trait anxiety. During 3T fMRI scanning, pictures of faces bearing sad, happy, and neutral expressions masked by neutral faces were presented to 21 healthy volunteers. The amygdala was selected as the region of interest (ROI) and voxel values of the ROI were extracted, summarized by mean and tested among the different conditions. A detection task was applied to assess participants' awareness of the masked emotional faces shown in the fMRI experiment. Masked sad and happy facial emotions led to greater right amygdala activation than masked neutral faces. The alexithymia feature difficulties identifying feelings was negatively correlated with the neural response of the right amygdala to masked sad faces, even when controlling for depressivity and anxiety. Reduced automatic amygdala responsivity may contribute to problems in identifying one's emotions in everyday life. Low spontaneous reactivity of the amygdala to sad faces could implicate less engagement in the encoding of negative emotional stimuli.     

Cynical hostility and the accuracy of decoding facial expressions of emotions

To examine the relation between cynical hostility and the accuracy of decoding facial expressions of emotions, 101 young adult participants completed the Cook-Medley Hostility Scale and Ekman's Pictures of Facial Affect. Results revealed that higher hostility scores were correlated with a greater number of errors in decoding facial expressions of emotions. Hostile individuals were more likely than nonhostile individuals to label inaccurately facial expressions of "disgust" as being "anger" and of "happiness" as being "neutral." Results also revealed that males were more likely than females to label incorrectly facial expressions of disgust as anger. Partial correlations, controlling for gender, revealed that the relation between hostility and inaccurate perceptions of facial portrayals of happiness was significant, whereas the relation between hostility and inaccurate perceptions of facial displays of disgust was no longer significant.     

Neural correlates of visual recognition in 3-month-old infants: the role of experience

Early experiences contribute powerfully to the development of neural systems that underlie various perceptual and cognitive abilities in humans. In one of the first studies to systematically control infants' exposure to a familiar object, we examined the effects of controlled experience on the neural correlates of visual recognition in two groups of infants. One group received 1 month of in‐home familiarization to a 3D model of a female face. Another group received 1.5 min of in‐lab familiarization to the 3D model of a female face, creating two conditions that differed in the amount and, importantly, the context of exposure to a familiar stimulus. Following familiarization, event‐related potentials (ERPs) were recorded at 3 months of age while infants viewed pictures of the familiar face and an unfamiliar face. Results demonstrated that while both groups of infants discriminated between the familiar and unfamiliar faces, the pattern of neural processing was reversed for the two groups. Thus, the amount and context of visual exposure altered the neural correlates of recognition processes in young infants. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 53:416–424, 2011.     

Emotional misattribution: Facial muscle responses partially mediate behavioral responses in the emotion misattribution procedure

There is ongoing debate regarding the degree to which, and the conditions under which, physiological, affect‐related (i.e., embodied) processes contribute to emotion information processing. Whereas most studies focus on clearly visible and intentional processing conditions, the present study targeted this issue by studying the implicit processing of emotional (angry, fearful, joyful, neutral) faces in a masked emotion misattribution procedure. That is, participants had to categorize neutral‐looking faces with regard to the allegedly felt emotion, which were preceded by a very briefly presented emotional expression. In addition to behavioral measures, facial muscle responses were obtained as an index of physiological, affect‐related processes. Linear mixed‐model mediation analyses confirmed that facial muscle responses partially mediated the behavioral responses to the masked primes in the misattribution task.     

阿斯伯格综合征儿童对人物基本面部表情的识别特点

目的:了解阿斯伯格综合征(Asperger syndrome,AS)儿童对人物基本面部表情的识别能力和特征。方法:使用本研究研发的面部表情识别测试软件系统对22例符合美国精神障碍诊断和统计手册第四版(the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,4th edition,DSM-Ⅳ)AS诊断标准的门诊AS儿童和20例性别、年龄等一般情况相匹配的正常对照儿童进行测试。以不同呈现方式下的面部表情识别的正确率与反应时为分析指标。结果:AS儿童对正立面部表情、上半部面孔表情的识别正确率均低于正常对照儿童,且反应时间延迟。AS儿童对整体面部表情的识别仅优于下半面孔,而正常儿童对整体面部表情的识别率优于上半和下半面孔。AS儿童与正常儿童对正立(整体)面孔的识别均优于倒立面孔。结论:阿斯伯格综合征儿童对人物面部表情的识别能力较正常儿童差,但尚具有一定的面孔整体加工能力,与正常儿童同样具有倒置面孔效应。     

Automatic brain response to facial emotion as a function of implicitly and explicitly measured extraversion

Extraversion/introversion is a basic dimension of personality that describes individual differences in social behavior and sensory sensitivity. Previous neuroimaging research exclusively relied on self reports for assessing personality traits. In recent years, implicit measures of personality have been developed that aim at assessing the implicit self-concept of personality and complement self report instruments which are thought to measure aspects of the explicit self-concept of personality. In the present study functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to examine automatic brain reactivity to facial expression as a function of both implicitly and explicitly measured extraversion in 30 healthy women. Sad, happy, and neutral faces were presented for 33 ms masked by neutral faces beside a no face control condition. Subjects evaluated the briefly shown neutral mask faces. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) and the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) were applied as measures of extraversion which were not correlated in our sample. IAT extraversion was negatively correlated with automatic reactivity of the caudate head, thalamus, and inferior frontal cortex to sad faces. NEO-FFI extraversion was negatively correlated with response of the inferior frontal cortex and putamen to sad faces. For masked happy faces, an inverse correlation of the IAT effect for extraversion with activation of the caudate head and superior parietal lobule was observed. NEO-FFI extraversion was inversely correlated with the response of the thalamus to happy faces. Neither NEO-FFI extraversion nor IAT effect were significantly related to brain response to masked neutral faces (compared to the no face condition). Taken together, a specific heightened responsivity of the fronto-striatal-thalamic circuit to facial emotions which are arousing stimuli might underlie introverts' preference for avoiding social interactions. Research on the neurobiology of extraversion could benefit from the application of implicit in addition to explicit measurement instruments when automatic neural responses are investigated.     

Prenatal experience and neonatal responsiveness to vocal expressions of emotion.

Newborn differentiation of emotion and the relevance of prenatal experience in influencing responsiveness to emotion was tested by examining newborn responses to the presentation of a range of vocal expressions. Differential responding was observed, as indicated by an increase in eye opening behavior in response to the presentation of happy speech patterns. More importantly, differential responding was observed only when the infants listened to emotional speech as spoken by speakers of their maternal language. No evidence of discrimination was found in the groups of infants listening to the same vocal expressions in a novel language. The results suggest that as a consequence of prenatal exposure to the distinctive prosodic maternal speech patterns that specify different emotions and to the temporally related stimuli created by distinctive maternal physiological concomitants of emotion, the fetus learns to differentiate those emotional speech patterns typical of the infant's maternal language.     

Subnormal short-latency facial mimicry responses to dynamic emotional facial expressions in male adolescents with disruptive behavior disorders and callous-unemotional traits

Using still pictures of emotional facial expressions as experimental stimuli, reduced amygdala responses or impaired recognition of basic emotions were repeatedly found in people with psychopathic traits. The amygdala also plays an important role in short-latency facial mimicry responses. Since dynamic emotional facial expressions may have higher ecological validity than still pictures, we compared short-latency facial mimicry responses to dynamic and static emotional expressions between adolescents with psychopathic traits and normal controls. Facial EMG responses to videos or still pictures of emotional expressions (happiness, anger, sadness, fear) were measured. Responses to 500-ms dynamic expressions in videos, as well as the subsequent 1500-ms phase of maximal (i.e., static) expression, were compared between male adolescents with disruptive behavior disorders and high (n = 14) or low (n = 17) callous-unemotional (CU) traits, and normal control subjects (n = 32). Responses to still pictures were also compared between groups. EMG responses to dynamic expressions were generally significantly smaller in the high-CU group than in the other two groups, which generally did not differ. These group differences gradually emerged during the 500-ms stimulus presentation period but in general they were already seen a few hundred milliseconds after stimulus onset. Group differences were absent during the 1500-ms phase of maximal expression and during exposure to still pictures. Subnormal short-latency mimicry responses to dynamic emotional facial expressions in the high-CU group might have negative consequences for understanding emotional facial expressions of others during daily life when human facial interactions are primarily dynamic.