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PubMed2001

Dynamic properties influence the perception of facial expressions.

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the role played by dynamic information in identifying facial expressions of emotion. Dynamic expression sequences were created by generating and displaying morph sequences which changed the face from neutral to a peak expression in different numbers of intervening intermediate stages, to create fast (6 frames), medium (26 frames), and slow (101 frames) sequences. In experiment 1, participants were asked to describe what the person shown in each sequence was feeling. Sadness was more accurately identified when slow sequences were shown. Happiness, and to some extent surprise, was better from faster sequences, while anger was most accurately detected from the sequences of medium pace. In experiment 2 we used an intensity-rating task and static images as well as dynamic ones to examine whether effects were due to total time of the displays or to the speed of sequence. Accuracies of expression judgments were derived from the rated intensities and the results were similar to those of experiment 1 for angry and sad expressions (surprised and happy were close to ceiling). Moreover, the effect of display time was found only for dynamic expressions and not for static ones, suggesting that it was speed, not time, which was responsible for these effects. These results suggest that representations of basic expressions of emotion encode information about dynamic as well as static properties.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Specific brain processing of facial expressions in people with alexithymia: an H2 15O-PET study.

Alexithymia is a personal trait characterized by a reduced ability to identify and describe one's own feelings and is known to contribute to a variety of physical and behavioural disorders. To elucidate the pathogenesis of stress-related disorders and the normal functions of emotion, it is important to investigate the neurobiology of alexithymia. Although several neurological models of alexithymia have been proposed, there is very little direct evidence for the neural correlates of alexithymia. Using PET, we studied brain activity in subjects with alexithymia when viewing a range of emotional face expressions. Twelve alexithymic and 12 non-alexithymic volunteers (all right-handed males) were selected from 247 applicants on the basis of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was measured with H(2)(15)O-PET while the subjects looked at angry, sad and happy faces with varying emotional intensity, as well as neutral faces. Brain response in the subjects with alexithymia significantly differed from that in the subjects without alexithymia. The alexithymics exhibited lower rCBF in the inferior and middle frontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, inferior parietal cortex and occipital cortex in the right hemisphere than the non-alexithymics. Additionally, the alexithymics showed higher rCBF in the superior frontal cortex, inferior parietal cortex and cerebellum in the left hemisphere when compared with the non-alexithymics. A covariance analysis revealed that rCBF in the inferior and superior frontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex and parietal cortex in the right hemisphere correlated negatively with individual TAS-20 scores when viewing angry and sad facial expressions, and that no rCBF correlated positively with TAS-20 scores. Moreover, the anterior cingulate cortex and insula were less activated in the alexithymics' response to angry faces than their response to neutral faces. These results suggest that people with alexithymia process facial expressions differently from people without alexithymia, and that this difference may account for the disorder of affect regulation and consequent peculiar behaviour in people with alexithymia.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Children's ratings of the intensity and unpleasantness of post-operative pain using facial expression scales.

This study explored whether global unidimensional self-report pain scales based on facial expression help children separately estimate the sensory and affective magnitude of post-operative pain. Ninety paediatric elective surgery patients (in two age groups: 5-9 and 10-15 years) used each of four scales to estimate pain intensity and pain affect during the first 2 days after surgery. The four scales were: Faces Pain Scale (FPS), Facial Affective Scale (FAS), and the Coloured Analogue Scale (CAS) (one for intensity and one for unpleasantness). As hypothesised, ratings on the FPS correlated more highly with analogue scale ratings for intensity than for unpleasantness, whereas ratings on the FAS correlated more highly with those on the analogue scale for unpleasantness than for intensity. Factor analysis indicated that although all measures loaded on a single dimension of distress, there was an additional weaker factor corresponding to a unique contribution of the FAS. No systematic age effects were observed. It was concluded that the FPS and the FAS may partly measure different aspects of the postoperative pain experience in children, although shared instrument variance may obscure true estimates of covariation in ratings of intensity and affective magnitude. The clinical relevance of the present results remains to be determined.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Hemispheric differences in recognition of facial expressions: a VHF-study of negative, positive, and neutral emotions.

The present study was concerned with a tachistoscopic investigation of asymmetry of recognition of different facial emotional expressions. Twenty-eight subjects had nine different drawings of facial expressions (either positive, negative, or neutral in emotional content) presented either to the left or right visual half-field. Recognition of the correct face was made for each stimulus-presentation. The results showed overall better recognition for presentations in the left half-field (LVF) (i.e., right hemisphere) compared to right half-field (RVF) (i.e., left hemisphere) presentations. Furthermore, while all three emotional categories were recognized about equally well in the right half-field, positive emotional expressions were significantly better than the neutral and negative categories when presented to the left half-field. The results are discussed in relation to previous findings of cerebral asymmetry in processing of emotional facial expressions.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Conditioning with facial expressions of emotion: effects of CS sex and age.

Two experiments examined the effects of facial expressions of emotion as conditioned stimuli (CSs) on human electrodermal conditioning and on a continuous measure of expectancy of the shock unconditioned stimulus. In Experiment 1, the CS+ was a picture of a person displaying an angry face and CS- was a neutral face. For half of the subjects, the expressions were depicted by males, for the other half by females. Male subjects showed larger skin conductance responses to pictures of males than did females. The responding of female subjects was the same regardless of the sex of the person in the picture. In Experiment 2, the CS+ and CS- were pictures of an angry or a happy face. For half of the subjects, the expressions were depicted by adult males, for the other half by preadolescent males. Subjects displayed greater differentiation when an adult male depicting anger was employed as the CS+ than when a preadolescent male depicting anger was the CS+. There were no differences when an adult or a child displayed happiness.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Visual-field bias in the judgment of facial expression of emotion.

The left and right hemispheres of the brain are differentially related to the processing of emotions. Although there is little doubt that the right hemisphere is relatively superior for processing negative emotions, controversy exists over the hemispheric role in the processing of positive emotions. Eighty right-handed normal male participants were examined for visual-field (left-right) differences in the perception of facial expressions of emotion. Facial composite (RR, LL) and hemifacial (R, L) sets depicting emotion expressions of happiness and sadness were prepared. Pairs of such photographs were presented bilaterally for 150 ms, and participants were asked to select the photographs that looked more expressive. A left visual-field superiority (a right-hemisphere function) was found for sad facial emotion. A hemispheric advantage in the perception of happy expression was not found.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

The motor cortex and facial expression: new insights from neuroscience.

BACKGROUND: For more than a century, unusual and complex deficits in facial expression have been known to occur following localized brain damage. Some brain injuries leave the face with pronounced alterations in affect whereas others result in movement disorders such as blepharospasm and Meige syndrome. There is also a historic trail of clinical observations that document deficits in either voluntary or emotional control of the facial muscles following central nervous system damage. REVIEW SUMMARY: Recent studies in the nonhuman primate cerebral cortex reveal the existence of multiple cortical facial representations in the frontal lobe and adjacent anterior cingulate cortex. These comprise the facial representation of the primary motor cortex (M1), ventral lateral premotor cortex (LPMCv), supplementary motor cortex (M2), rostral cingulate motor cortex (M3), and caudal cingulate motor cortex (M4). Homologous facial representations reside in the human brain based on observations following cortical stimulation, functional neuroimaging, and localized surgical resection. In the nonhuman primate, all these facial representations have been found to be directly interconnected through topographically organized corticocortical connections, and each facial area has also been found to send direct corticobulbar projections to the facial motor nucleus. The facial representations of M2 and M3 are both located on the medial wall of the hemisphere, in the vascular territory of the anterior cerebral artery. Both preferentially give rise to bilateral projections to parts of the facial nucleus that innervate the upper facial musculature as demonstrated in the monkey. The facial representation of M1, LPMCv, and M4 preferentially give rise to contralateral axonal projections ending in parts of the facial nucleus that innervate the lower facial musculature. The facial representation of M1 and LPMCv both reside in the vascular territory of the middle cerebral artery (MCA). The classic clinical presentation of paralysis in the contralateral lower facial musculature and intact bilateral upper facial musculature following typical MCA in infarction in the human parallels this mapping pattern of corticobulbar connections found in the nonhuman primate. CONCLUSIONS: Facial movements are undoubtedly under the powerful influence of the cerebral cortex and are essential for the appropriate execution of many important functions such as mastication, swallowing, and social interaction, including speech and nonverbal communication. This information provides a theoretic template for interpreting the clinical effects of neuropathologic disease and localized cortical trauma on facial movements.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Facial expressions as conditioned stimuli for electrodermal responses: a case of "preparedness"?

Converging data suggest that human facial behavior has an evolutionary basis. Combining these data with Seligman's preparedness theory, it was predicted that facial expressions of anger should be more readily associated with aversive events than should expressions of happiness. Two experiments involving differential electrodermal conditioning to pictures of faces, with electric shock as the unconditioned stimulus, were performed. In the first experiment, the subjects were exposed to two pictures of the same person, one with an angry and one with a happy expression. For half of the subjects, the shock followed the angry face, and for the other half, it followed the happy face. In the second experiment, three groups of subjects differentiated between pictures of male and female faces, both showing angry, neutral, and happy expressions. Responses to angry conditioned stimuli showed significant resistance to extinction in both experiments, with a larger effect in Experiment 2. Responses to happy or neutral conditioned stimuli, on the other hand, extinguished immediately when the shock was withheld. The results are related to conditioning to phobic stimuli and to the preparedness theory.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Jumping to interpretations: social anxiety disorder and the identification of emotional facial expressions.

A small body of research suggests that socially anxious individuals show biases in interpreting the facial expressions of others. The current study included a clinically anxious sample in a speeded emotional card-sorting task in two conditions (baseline and threat) to investigate several hypothesized biases in interpretation. Following the threat manipulation, participants with generalized social anxiety disorders (GSADs) sorted angry cards with greater accuracy, but also evidenced a greater rate of neutral cards misclassified as angry, as compared to nonanxious controls. The controls showed the opposite pattern, sorting neutral cards with greater accuracy but also misclassifying a greater proportion of angry cards as neutral, as compared to GSADs. These effects were accounted for primarily by low-intensity angry cards. Results are consistent with previous studies showing a negative interpretive bias, and can be applied to the improvement of clinical interventions.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Lateralized brain processing of faces and facial expressions: level of blurring and specificity.

Earlier papers showed that the relative impairment in response to faces and facial expressions shown by right-brain-damaged subjects was reduced by using blurred stimuli. Reanalysis of these data supports the hypothesis of differential hemispheric sensitivity to spatial frequency of inputs and shows processing of expressions partially depends on the processing of faces.

Brain Damage, Chronic↗
PubMed1999

Diminished facial expression despite the existence of pleasant emotional experience in schizophrenia.

In order to investigate the relationship between pleasant emotional experience and facial expression (i.e., laughter), mood before and after watching comic film clips, self-rated pleasant emotional experience for each film clip and electromyographic activities of facial muscles involved in laughter while watching film clips were measured for 25 patients with schizophrenia and 20 normal controls. Patients with schizophrenia who showed a significant correlation between self-rated emotional experience and major zygomatic activity were equivalent to normal controls in self-rated emotional experience and in mood after film clips; they had a significant increase in mood scores related with pleasure. Although these patients were thought to have sufficient pleasant emotional experience, they showed significantly low major zygomatic activity as compared to normal controls. It is suggested that these patients have a disturbance in the process of emotional expression rather than emotional experience.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

The functional anatomy of the muscles of facial expression in humans with and without cleft lip and palate. A contribution to refine muscle reconstruction in primary cheilo- and rhinoplasties in patients with uni- and bilateral complete CLP.

The great variation of primary cheiloplasty procedures in Cleft Lip and Palate (CLP) patients shows that there is disagreement regarding the embryonic development of this part of the face, the macroscopic and microscopic functional anatomy of the human muscles of facial expression and their role as a functional matrix for balanced and harmonious facial development. The purpose of this study is to present results of microsurgically dissected facial muscles, several parts of the nose and the human midface in specimens with and without cleft lip and palate. The results are compared with those of other investigations. Recommendations are presented for a standardized dissection technique of the facial muscles of expression for different types of primary cheilo- and rhinoplasty techniques.

Cleft Lip↗
PubMed1979

Recognition of facial expressions by seven-month-old infants.

3 experiments examined 7-month-old infants' ability to discriminate the facial expressions of happy vs. fear. Experiment 1 revealed that infants demonstrated discrimination of happy vs. fear expressions when posed by a single model but that this discrimination was affected by the order of stimulus presentation. In experiment 2 infants were shown 2 models posing the happing and fearful expressions and did not demonstrate generalization of the discrimination of happy versus fear across these models. The third and main experiment varied the test procedure. Here, infants demonstrated reliable generalized discrimination of the 2 expressions across different models. As in experiment 1, however, these results were constrained by the order in which the stimuli were presented. These consistent order effects were not due to the initial salience of the 2 expressions but, instead, appeared to reflect differential rates of habituation to happy vs. fear expressions.

Discrimination Learning↗
PubMed1987

Universals and cultural differences in the judgments of facial expressions of emotion.

We present here new evidence of cross-cultural agreement in the judgement of facial expression. Subjects in 10 cultures performed a more complex judgment task than has been used in previous cross-cultural studies. Instead of limiting the subjects to selecting only one emotion term for each expression, this task allowed them to indicate that multiple emotions were evident and the intensity of each emotion. Agreement was very high across cultures about which emotion was the most intense. The 10 cultures also agreed about the second most intense emotion signaled by an expression and about the relative intensity among expressions of the same emotion. However, cultural differences were found in judgments of the absolute level of emotional intensity.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Influence of the serotonin transporter promoter gene and shyness on children's cerebral responses to facial expressions.

BACKGROUND: Childhood shyness can predate social anxiety disorder and may be associated with biased discrimination of facial expressions of emotions. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether childhood shyness, or the serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism genotype, can predict participants' visual event-related potentials in response to expressions of children of similar ages. DESIGN: Study group drawn from an inception cohort of 149 subjects characterized 1 year before the present study by their degree of shyness. SETTING: Third- and fourth-grade schoolchildren. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-nine of the inception cohort children, randomly selected. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Latencies and amplitudes of the N400 waveform in response to happy, neutral, and angry expressions. RESULTS: Shyness predicted significantly smaller N400 amplitudes in response to anger (at Pz: P < or = .04) and to a neutral expression (at Pz: P < or = .047). Shyness was significantly different across the 3 genotypes, the SS genotype being associated with higher shyness levels (analysis of variance: F(2,42) = 4.47, P < or = .02; Tukey honestly significant difference, SS vs LL, P < or = .01). An analysis of covariance showed that neither the type of expression nor the genotype per se influenced the N400 amplitudes, but a significant expression X genotype interaction was found (F(4,72) = 3.57, P < or = .01), sustained by the difference in amplitude of the SS and S carrier subjects compared with the LL subjects when exposed to the anger expression (Tukey honestly significant difference, P < or = .02). CONCLUSION: Children who manifest higher levels of shyness or have 1 or 2 copies of the short allele of the serotonin transporter promoter gene appear to have a different pattern of processing affective stimuli of interpersonal hostility.

Affect↗