Patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder (BPD), by definition,
have problems with emotional regulation. However, it remains
uncertain whether these patients are also deficient at processing
other people's emotions, particularly while manic. The
present study examined the ability of 25 manic bipolar patients
and 25 healthy participants on tasks of facial recognition and
facial affect recognition at three different presentation
durations: 500 ms, 750 ms, and 1000 ms. The groups did not differ
in terms of age, education, sex, ethnicity, or estimated IQ.
The groups did not differ significantly on either a novel
computerized facial recognition task or the Benton Facial
Recognition Test. In contrast, the bipolar group performed
significantly more poorly than did the comparison group on a
novel facial affect labeling task. Although the patient group
had slower reaction times on all 3 computerized tasks, the
presentation duration did not have an effect on performance
in the patients. This study suggests that patients with bipolar
disorder are able to recognize faces, but have difficulty
processing facial affective cues. (JINS, 2003, 9,
623–632.)
Facial Affect Recognition by Patients with Schizophrenia Using Human Avatars