scholarly journals Facial expressions of emotional stress in horses

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Lundblad ◽  
Maheen Rashid ◽  
Marie Rhodin ◽  
Pia Haubro Andersen
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Road Transport ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Coding System ◽  
Upper Eyelid ◽  
Learning Classifier ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Blink Frequency

AbstractHorses have the ability to generate a remarkable repertoire of facial expressions, some which have been linked to certain emotional states, for example pain. Studies suggest that facial expressions may be a more ‘honest’ expression of emotional state in horses than behavioral or physiological parameters. This study sought to describe the facial expressions during stress of healthy horses free of pain, using a standardized method of recording facial expressions in video. Stress was induced in 28 horses by subjecting them to road transport and 10 of these horses were also subjected to social isolation. The horses served as their own control. A body-mounted, remote controlled heart rate monitor provided continuous heart rate measurements during the interventions. The horses’ facial expressions were video-recorded during the interventions. Frequency and duration of each facial expression were then determined, according to the Equine Facial Action Coding System. Heart rate increased during the stressful interventions (p=0.01), confirming that the interventions were stressful. Using both the human investigation- and the co-occurrence methods, the following facial traits could be observed during stress: eye white increase (p<0.001), nostril dilator (p<0.001), upper eyelid raiser (p<0.001), inner brow raiser (p=0.042), tongue show (p<0.001) along with an increase in ‘ear flicker’ (p<0.001) and blink frequency (p<0.001). The facial actions were successfully used to train a machine-learning classifier to discriminate between stressed and calm horses, with an accuracy of 74.2 %. Most of the facial features identified correspond well with previous research on the subject, for example flared nostrils, repetitive mouth behaviors, increased eye white, tongue show and ear movements. Some features selected as indicative of emotional pain-free stress are used in face-based pain assessment tools, such as dilated nostrils, eye white increase or inner brow raiser. The relation between facial expressions of stress and pain should therefore further be studied.

scholarly journals Effect of transportation and social isolation on facial expressions of healthy horses

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0241532
Author(s):  
Johan Lundblad ◽  
Maheen Rashid ◽  
Marie Rhodin ◽  
Pia Haubro Andersen
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Pain Assessment ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Facial Action ◽  
Action Units ◽  
Management Procedures

Horses have the ability to generate a remarkable repertoire of facial expressions, some of which have been linked to the affective component of pain. This study describes the facial expressions in healthy horses free of pain before and during transportation and social isolation, which are putatively stressful but ordinary management procedures. Transportation was performed in 28 horses by subjecting them to short-term road transport in a horse trailer. A subgroup (n = 10) of these horses was also subjected to short-term social isolation. During all procedures, a body-mounted, remote-controlled heart rate monitor provided continuous heart rate measurements. The horses’ heads were video-recorded during the interventions. An exhaustive dataset was generated from the selected video clips of all possible facial action units and action descriptors, time of emergency, duration, and frequency according to the Equine Facial Action Coding System (EquiFACS). Heart rate increased during both interventions (p<0.01), confirming that they caused disruption in sympato-vagal balance. Using the current method for ascribing certain action units (AUs) to specific emotional states in humans and a novel data-driven co-occurrence method, the following facial traits were observed during both interventions: eye white increase (p<0.001), nostril dilator (p<0.001), upper eyelid raiser (p<0.001), inner brow raiser (p = 0.042), tongue show (p<0.001). Increases in ‘ear flicker’ (p<0.001) and blink frequency (p<0.001) were also seen. These facial actions were used to train a machine-learning classifier to discriminate between the high-arousal interventions and calm horses, which achieved at most 79% accuracy. Most facial features identified correspond well with previous findings on behaviors of stressed horses, for example flared nostrils, repetitive mouth behaviors, increased eye white, tongue show, and ear movements. Several features identified in this study of pain-free horses, such as dilated nostrils, eye white increase, and inner brow raiser, are used as indicators of pain in some face-based pain assessment tools. In order to increase performance parameters in pain assessment tools, the relations between facial expressions of stress and pain should be studied further.

scholarly journals Adaptive 3D Model-Based Facial Expression Synthesis and Pose Frontalization

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 2578
Author(s):  
Yu-Jin Hong ◽  
Sung Eun Choi ◽  
Gi Pyo Nam ◽  
Heeseung Choi ◽  
Junghyun Cho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Face Recognition ◽  
Facial Expression ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Data Augmentation ◽  
Synthesis Method ◽  
Qualitative Evaluation ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Coding System ◽  
Contour Fitting ◽  
Facial Expression Modeling

Facial expressions are one of the important non-verbal ways used to understand human emotions during communication. Thus, acquiring and reproducing facial expressions is helpful in analyzing human emotional states. However, owing to complex and subtle facial muscle movements, facial expression modeling from images with face poses is difficult to achieve. To handle this issue, we present a method for acquiring facial expressions from a non-frontal single photograph using a 3D-aided approach. In addition, we propose a contour-fitting method that improves the modeling accuracy by automatically rearranging 3D contour landmarks corresponding to fixed 2D image landmarks. The acquired facial expression input can be parametrically manipulated to create various facial expressions through a blendshape or expression transfer based on the FACS (Facial Action Coding System). To achieve a realistic facial expression synthesis, we propose an exemplar-texture wrinkle synthesis method that extracts and synthesizes appropriate expression wrinkles according to the target expression. To do so, we constructed a wrinkle table of various facial expressions from 400 people. As one of the applications, we proved that the expression-pose synthesis method is suitable for expression-invariant face recognition through a quantitative evaluation, and showed the effectiveness based on a qualitative evaluation. We expect our system to be a benefit to various fields such as face recognition, HCI, and data augmentation for deep learning.

Emotional Seesaw, Compliance, and Mindlessness

2001 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 194-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dariusz Dolinski
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Functioning ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Probable Mechanism ◽  
External Stimulus ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Specific Behavior ◽  
Cognitive Operations ◽  
Facial Expressions Of Emotion ◽  
The Subject

Research on emotion conducted so far has ignored situations where the subject experiences a certain emotion, but where the external stimulus that evoked and upholds this emotion suddenly disappears. This kind of situation, however, is relatively common in everyday life. This article attempts to recognize certain consequences of those conditions under which the stimuli justifying our experience of such emotional states as fear or joy suddenly disappear. Research done to date by the author and colleagues indicates increased compliance of the subject when addressed with various requests, commands, or suggestions in the situation termed here “emotional seesaw.” The classical “live” example that illustrates this principle is the type of “good cop-bad cop” interrogation procedure. The probable mechanism underlying increased compliance under these conditions is connected with the fact that every emotion generates its own specific behavior program. When this program suddenly proves to be totally inadequate to new, modified external circumstances, the subject begins functioning “mindlessly.” This permits automatic reactions, which take no account for the peculiarity of the current situation. Another group of experiments presented in this article shows that the subject's cognitive functioning is disturbed under emotional seesaw conditions. Such a disturbance embraces not only simple cognitive operations like detection of facial expressions of emotion, but also more complex operations like arithmetical calculations done mentally. The article concludes that further research is needed regarding the consequences of sudden and unexpected withdrawal of stimuli that induce and uphold various emotions.

scholarly journals Specific Behavioral Responses Rather Than Autonomic Responses Can Indicate and Quantify Acute Pain among Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 253
Author(s):  
Ruth Defrin ◽  
Tali Benromano ◽  
Chaim G. Pick
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Developmental Disabilities ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Noxious Stimulation ◽  
Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities ◽  
Coding System ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Skin Response ◽  
Numeric Scale

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are at a high risk of experiencing pain. Pain management requires assessment, a challenging mission considering the impaired communication skills in IDD. We analyzed subjective and objective responses following calibrated experimental stimuli to determine whether they can differentiate between painful and non-painful states, and adequately quantify pain among individuals with IDD. Eighteen adults with IDD and 21 healthy controls (HC) received experimental pressure stimuli (innocuous, mildly noxious, and moderately noxious). Facial expressions (analyzed with the Facial Action Coding System (FACS)) and autonomic function (heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), pulse, and galvanic skin response (GSR)) were continuously monitored, and self-reports using a pyramid and a numeric scale were obtained. Significant stimulus-response relationships were observed for the FACS and pyramid scores (but not for the numeric scores), and specific action units could differentiate between the noxious levels among the IDD group. FACS scores of the IDD group were higher and steeper than those of HC. HRV was overall lower among the IDD group, and GSR increased during noxious stimulation in both groups. In conclusion, the facial expressions and self-reports seem to reliably detect and quantify pain among individuals with mild-moderate IDD; their enhanced responses may indicate increased pain sensitivity that requires careful clinical consideration.

scholarly journals Horses Categorize Human Emotions Cross-Modally Based on Facial Expression and Non-Verbal Vocalizations

Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 862 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trösch ◽  
Cuzol ◽  
Parias ◽  
Calandreau ◽  
Nowak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Facial Expression ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Emotional Valence ◽  
Domestic Animals ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Perceptual Category ◽  
Human Emotions ◽  
Insight Into

Over the last few years, an increasing number of studies have aimed to gain more insight into the field of animal emotions. In particular, it is of interest to determine whether animals can cross-modally categorize the emotions of others. For domestic animals that share a close relationship with humans, we might wonder whether this cross-modal recognition of emotions extends to humans, as well. In this study, we tested whether horses could recognize human emotions and attribute the emotional valence of visual (facial expression) and vocal (non-verbal vocalization) stimuli to the same perceptual category. Two animated pictures of different facial expressions (anger and joy) were simultaneously presented to the horses, while a speaker played an emotional human non-verbal vocalization matching one of the two facial expressions. Horses looked at the picture that was incongruent with the vocalization more, probably because they were intrigued by the paradoxical combination. Moreover, horses reacted in accordance with the valence of the vocalization, both behaviorally and physiologically (heart rate). These results show that horses can cross-modally recognize human emotions and react emotionally to the emotional states of humans, assessed by non-verbal vocalizations.

scholarly journals Introduction

Ramus ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 16 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
A.J. Boyle
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Latin Literature ◽  
Political Repression ◽  
Adequate Description ◽  
Literary Value ◽  
Roman Literature ◽  
Imperial Period ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Ars Amatoria

oratio certam regulam non habet; consuetudo illam ciuitatis, quae numquam in eodem diu stetit, uersat.Style has no fixed rules; the usage of society changes it, which never stays still for long.Seneca Epistle 114.13This is the first of two volumes of critical essays on Latin literature of the imperial period from Ovid to late antiquity. The focus is upon the main postclassical period (A.D. 1-150), especially the authors of the Neronian and Flavian principates (A.D. 54-96), several of whom, though recently the subject of substantial investigation and reassessment, remain largely unread, at best improperly understood. The change which took place in Roman literature between the late republic/early Augustan period and the post-Augustan empire, between the ‘classicism’ of Cicero, Virgil, Horace, Livy and the ‘postclassicism’ of Seneca, Lucan, Persius, Tacitus is conventionally misdescribed (albeit sometimes with qualifications) as the movement from Golden to Silver Latin. The description misleads on many counts, not least because it misconstrues a change in literary and poetic sensibility, in the mental sets of reader and audience, and in the political environment of writing itself, as a change in literary value. What in fact happened awaits adequate description, but it seems clear that the change began with Ovid (43 B.C. to A.D. 17), whose rejection of Augustan classicism (especially its concept of decorum or ‘appropriateness’), cultivation of generic disorder and experimentation (witness, e.g., Ars Amatoria and Metamorphoses), love of paradox, absurdity, incongruity, hyperbole, wit, and focus on extreme emotional states, influenced everything that followed. Ovid also witnessed and suffered from the increasing political repression of the principate; he was banished for — among other things — his words, carmen. And political repression seems to have been a signal factor, if difficult to evaluate, in the formation of the postclassical style.

scholarly journals Human and Human-Interfaced AI Interactions: Modulation of Human Male Autonomic Nervous System via Pupil Mimicry

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1028
Author(s):  
Catherine Spicer ◽  
Prashanna Khwaounjoo ◽  
Yusuf Ozgur Cakmak
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Nervous System ◽  
Parasympathetic Nervous System ◽  
Pupil Dilation ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Virtual Humans ◽  
Autonomic Functioning ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Pupil Constriction

Pupillary alterations in virtual humans induce neurophysiological responses within an observer. Technological advances have enabled rapid developments in artificial intelligence (AI), from verbal systems, to visual AI interfaces with the ability to express, and respond to emotional states of a user. Visual AI interfaces are able to change their physical parameters, such as pupil diameter. Pupillary changes can alter heart rate, however, effects on heart rate variability (HRV) are unknown. HRV, is an autonomic, non-conscious parameter which monitors sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity. N = 34 male participants aged between 19–33 were subjected to a number of conditions such as pupil dilation, constriction and blushing. The present research is the first to investigate the effects of virtual human interactions on human HRV. Outcomes of this study were obtained using eye tracking and HRV measurements. Pupil dilation relative to constriction presented in the female virtual partner induced a significant right pupillary diameter increase (p = 0.041) in human observers. Additionally, female virtual partner pupil constriction relative to dilation induced a significant increase in participants’ PNS HRV response (p = 0.036). These findings indicate the ability of a female virtual interaction partner to modulate parasympathetic autonomic functioning in young healthy male humans. This allows first insights into the effects of interacting with virtual AI interaction partners, on human autonomic functioning, and may aid development of future virtual humans, and their implementation into relevant clinical settings.

Critical Analysis of Methods for Assessing the Innovation Potential of an Enterprise

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-35
Author(s):  
Mariya Podshivalova ◽  
S. Almrshed
Keyword(s):  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Graphical Representation ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Classification Model ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Innovation Potential ◽  
Economic Statistics ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Innovative Capacity

The starting point of research on assessing the innovative capacity of an enterprise is the question of definitions. In this regard, authors initially turned to review of scientific literature on the subject of definitions variety for the term "enterprise innovative capacity". These data show that the wording of this term by both foreign and Russian researchers differs significantly. Authors propose a systematization of approaches to the definition and a corresponding graphical classification model, which highlights the evolutionary, resource, functional and process approaches. Further, a critical analysis of approaches to assessing enterprise innovative capacity is carried out. At the first stage, the content of modern assessment methods was studied, and at the second stage, the mathematical tools used were studied. Authors have formed a graphical representation of critical analysis results and based on it, they have concluded that among the approaches to assessing enterprise innovative capacity, the evolutionary approach should be recognized as promising, and among the methods of quantitative assessment – tools of economic statistics.

Personalized mathematical model of endotoxin-induced inflammatory responses in young men and associated changes in heart rate variability

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Brady ◽  
D.O. Frank-Ito ◽  
H.T. Tran ◽  
S. Janum ◽  
K. Møller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Heart Rate Variability ◽  
Inflammatory Responses ◽  
Interleukin 10 ◽  
Tnf Alpha ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Estimated Parameters ◽  
Subject Specific ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Necrosis Factor

The objective of this study was to develop a personalized inflammatory model and estimate subject-specific parameters that could be related to changes in heart rate variability (HRV), a measure that can be obtained non-invasively in real time. An inflammatory model was developed and calibrated to measurements of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha), interleukin-8 (IL-8) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) over 8 hours in 20 subjects administered a low dose of lipopolysaccharide. For this model, we estimated 11 subject-specific parameters for all 20 subjects. Estimated parameters were correlated with changes in HRV, computed from ECG measurements using a built-in HRV module available in Labchart. Results revealed that patients could be separated into two groups expressing normal and abnormal responses to endotoxin. Abnormal responders exhibited increased HRV, most likely as a result of increased vagal firing. The observed correlation between the inflammatory response and HRV brings us a step further towards understanding if HRV predictions can be used as a marker for inflammation. Analyzing HRV parameters provides an easy, non-invasively obtained measure that can be used to assess the state of the subject, potentially translating to identifying a non-invasive marker that can be used to detect the onset of sepsis.

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