scholarly journals Reduced Ventrolateral fMRI Response during Observation of Emotional Gestures Related to the Degree of Dopaminergic Impairment in Parkinson Disease

2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 1321-1331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Lotze ◽  
Matthias Reimold ◽  
Ulrike Heymans ◽  
Arto Laihinen ◽  
Marianne Patt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson Disease ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Motor Impairment ◽  
Superior Temporal Sulcus ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Average Decrease ◽  
Fmri Response ◽  
The Right

Recent findings point to a perceptive impairment of emotional facial expressions in patients diagnosed with Parkinson disease (PD). In these patients, administration of dopamine can modulate emotional facial recognition. We used fMRI to investigate differences in the functional activation in response to emotional and nonemotional gestures between PD patients and age-matched healthy controls (HC). In addition, we used PET to evaluate the striatal dopamine transporter availability (DAT) with [11C]d-threo-methylphenidate in the patient group. Patients showed an average decrease to 26% in DAT when compared to age-corrected healthy references. Reduction in the DAT of the left putamen correlated not only with motor impairment but also with errors in emotional gesture recognition. In comparison to HC, PD patients showed a specific decrease in activation related to emotional gesture observation in the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) and the right superior temporal sulcus. Moreover, the less DAT present in the left putamen, the lower the activation in the left VLPFC. We conclude that a loss of dopaminergic neurotransmission in the putamen results in a reduction of ventrolateral prefrontal access involved in the recognition of emotional gestures.

Facial Affect Recognition in Myasthenia Gravis

2013 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Lázaro ◽  
Imanol Amayra ◽  
Juan Francisco López-Paz ◽  
Amaia Jometón ◽  
Natalia Martín ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Emotion Recognition ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Recognition Accuracy ◽  
Facial Affect ◽  
Facial Emotion Recognition ◽  
Facial Emotion ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Clinical Neurological Examination

AbstractThe assessment of facial expression is an important aspect of a clinical neurological examination, both as an indicator of a mood disorder and as a sign of neurological damage. To date, although studies have been conducted on certain psychosocial aspects of myasthenia, such as quality of life and anxiety, and on neuropsychological aspects such as memory, no studies have directly assessed facial emotion recognition accuracy. The aim of this study was to assess the facial emotion recognition accuracy (fear, surprise, sadness, happiness, anger, and disgust), empathy, and reaction time of patients with myasthenia. Thirty-five patients with myasthenia and 36 healthy controls were tested for their ability to differentiate emotional facial expressions. Participants were matched with respect to age, gender, and education level. Their ability to differentiate emotional facial expressions was evaluated using the computer-based program Feel Test. The data showed that myasthenic patients scored significantly lower (p < 0.05) than healthy controls in the total Feel score, fear, surprise, and higher reaction time. The findings suggest that the ability to recognize facial affect may be reduced in individuals with myasthenia.

An Exploratory TMS Study on Prefrontal Lateralization in Valence Categorization of Facial Expressions

2017 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 282-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Ferrari ◽  
Lucile Gamond ◽  
Marcello Gallucci ◽  
Tomaso Vecchi ◽  
Zaira Cattaneo
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Control Site ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Left Dlpfc ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Right

Abstract. Converging neuroimaging and patient data suggest that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is involved in emotional processing. However, it is still not clear whether the DLPFC in the left and right hemisphere is differentially involved in emotion recognition depending on the emotion considered. Here we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to shed light on the possible causal role of the left and right DLPFC in encoding valence of positive and negative emotional facial expressions. Participants were required to indicate whether a series of faces displayed a positive or negative expression, while TMS was delivered over the right DLPFC, the left DLPFC, and a control site (vertex). Interfering with activity in both the left and right DLPFC delayed valence categorization (compared to control stimulation) to a similar extent irrespective of emotion type. Overall, we failed to demonstrate any valence-related lateralization in the DLPFC by using TMS. Possible methodological limitations are discussed.

scholarly journals Goats prefer positive human emotional facial expressions

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (8) ◽  
pp. 180491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Nawroth ◽  
Natalia Albuquerque ◽  
Carine Savalli ◽  
Marie-Sophie Single ◽  
Alan G. McElligott
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Test Arena ◽  
Emotional Cues ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact

Domestication has shaped the physiology and the behaviour of animals to better adapt to human environments. Therefore, human facial expressions may be highly informative for animals domesticated for working closely with people, such as dogs and horses. However, it is not known whether other animals, and particularly those domesticated primarily for production, such as goats, are capable of perceiving human emotional cues. In this study, we investigated whether goats can distinguish human facial expressions when simultaneously shown two images of an unfamiliar human with different emotional valences (positive/happy or negative/angry). Both images were vertically attached to a wall on one side of a test arena, 1.3 m apart, and goats were released from the opposite side of the arena (distance of 4.0 m) and were free to explore and interact with the stimuli during the trials. Each of four test trials lasted 30 s. Overall, we found that goats preferred to interact first with happy faces, meaning that they are sensitive to human facial emotional cues. Goats interacted first, more often and for longer duration with positive faces when they were positioned on the right side. However, no preference was found when the positive faces were placed on the left side. We show that animals domesticated for production can discriminate human facial expressions with different emotional valences and prefer to interact with positive ones. Therefore, the impact of domestication on animal cognitive abilities may be more far-reaching than previously assumed.

Neural response to angry and disgusted facial expressions in bulimia nervosa

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (11) ◽  
pp. 2375-2384 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Ashworth ◽  
A. Pringle ◽  
R. Norbury ◽  
C. J. Harmer ◽  
P. J. Cowen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bulimia Nervosa ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Neural Response ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Interpersonal Difficulties ◽  
Amygdala Response ◽  
Clinical Interest ◽  
The Right ◽  
Free Women

BackgroundProcessing emotional facial expressions is of interest in eating disorders (EDs) as impairments in recognizing and understanding social cues might underlie the interpersonal difficulties experienced by these patients. Disgust and anger are of particular theoretical and clinical interest. The current study investigated the neural response to facial expressions of anger and disgust in bulimia nervosa (BN).MethodParticipants were 12 medication-free women with BN in an acute episode (mean age 24 years), and 16 age-, gender- and IQ-matched healthy volunteers (HVs). Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to examine neural responses to angry and disgusted facial expressions.ResultsCompared with HVs, patients with BN had a decreased neural response in the precuneus to facial expressions of both anger and disgust and a decreased neural response to angry facial expressions in the right amygdala.ConclusionsThe neural response to emotional facial expressions in BN differs from that found in HVs. The precuneus response may be consistent with the application of mentalization theory to EDs, and the amygdala response with relevant ED theory. The findings are preliminary, but novel, and require replication in a larger sample.

scholarly journals Early Right Motor Cortex Response to Happy and Fearful Facial Expressions: A TMS Motor-Evoked Potential Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Borgomaneri ◽  
Francesca Vitale ◽  
Simone Battaglia ◽  
Alessio Avenanti
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Motor Evoked Potential ◽  
Corticospinal Excitability ◽  
The Body ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Human Motor Cortex ◽  
Emotional Faces ◽  
The Right

The ability to rapidly process others’ emotional signals is crucial for adaptive social interactions. However, to date it is still unclear how observing emotional facial expressions affects the reactivity of the human motor cortex. To provide insights on this issue, we employed single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to investigate corticospinal motor excitability. Healthy participants observed happy, fearful and neutral pictures of facial expressions while receiving TMS over the left or right motor cortex at 150 and 300 ms after picture onset. In the early phase (150 ms), we observed an enhancement of corticospinal excitability for the observation of happy and fearful emotional faces compared to neutral expressions specifically in the right hemisphere. Interindividual differences in the disposition to experience aversive feelings (personal distress) in interpersonal emotional contexts predicted the early increase in corticospinal excitability for emotional faces. No differences in corticospinal excitability were observed at the later time (300 ms) or in the left M1. These findings support the notion that emotion perception primes the body for action and highlights the role of the right hemisphere in implementing a rapid and transient facilitatory response to emotional arousing stimuli, such as emotional facial expressions.

scholarly journals Recognition of Sad and Happy Facial Expressions – Lateralization and Association with Depressive Symptoms

2021 ◽  
pp. 331-352
Author(s):  
Maida Koso-Drljević ◽  
Meri Miličević
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Significant Negative Correlation ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Depression Subscale ◽  
Main Effect ◽  
The Face ◽  
Hemisphere Dominance ◽  
The Right

The aim of the study was to test two assumptions about the lateralization of the processing of emotional facial expressions: the assumption of right hemisphere dominance and the valence assumption and to egsamine the influence of gender of the presented stimulus (chimera) and depression as an emotional state of participants. The sample consisted of 83 female students, with an average age of 20 years. Participants solved the Task of Recognizing Emotional Facial Expressions on a computer and then completed the DASS-21, Depression subscale. The results of the study partially confirmed the assumption of valence for the dependent variable - the accuracy of the response. Participants were recognizing more accurately the emotion of sadness than happiness when it is presented on the left side of the face, which is consistent with the valence hypothesis, according to which the right hemisphere is responsible for recognizing negative emotions. However, when it comes to the right side of the face, participants were equally accurately recognizing the emotion of sadness and happiness, which is not consistent with the valence hypothesis. The main effect of the gender of the chimera was statistically significant for the accuracy of the response, the recognition accuracy was higher for the male chimeras compared to the female. A statistically significant negative correlation was obtained between the variable sides of the face (left and right) with the achieved result on the depression subscale for the dependent variable - reaction time. The higher the score on the depressive subscale, the slower (longer) is reaction time to the presented chimera, both on the left and on the right.

Neural correlates of perception of emotional facial expressions in out-patients with mild-to-moderate depression and anxiety. A multicenter fMRI study

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (11) ◽  
pp. 2253-2264 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. R. Demenescu ◽  
R. Renken ◽  
R. Kortekaas ◽  
M.-J. van Tol ◽  
J. B. C. Marsman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anxiety Disorders ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Neural Activation ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Emotional Faces ◽  
Depressed Patients

BackgroundDepression has been associated with limbic hyperactivation and frontal hypoactivation in response to negative facial stimuli. Anxiety disorders have also been associated with increased activation of emotional structures such as the amygdala and insula. This study examined to what extent activation of brain regions involved in perception of emotional faces is specific to depression and anxiety disorders in a large community-based sample of out-patients.MethodAn event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm was used including angry, fearful, sad, happy and neutral facial expressions. One hundred and eighty-two out-patients (59 depressed, 57 anxiety and 66 co-morbid depression-anxiety) and 56 healthy controls selected from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA) were included in the present study. Whole-brain analyses were conducted. The temporal profile of amygdala activation was also investigated.ResultsFacial expressions activated the amygdala and fusiform gyrus in depressed patients with or without anxiety and in healthy controls, relative to scrambled faces, but this was less evident in patients with anxiety disorders. The response shape of the amygdala did not differ between groups. Depressed patients showed dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) hyperactivation in response to happy faces compared to healthy controls.ConclusionsWe suggest that stronger frontal activation to happy faces in depressed patients may reflect increased demands on effortful emotion regulation processes triggered by mood-incongruent stimuli. The lack of strong differences in neural activation to negative emotional faces, relative to healthy controls, may be characteristic of the mild-to-moderate severity of illness in this sample and may be indicative of a certain cognitive-emotional processing reserve.

scholarly journals Kinematical analysis of emotionally induced facial expressions in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder

2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 1453-1462 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. MERGL ◽  
M. VOGEL ◽  
P. MAVROGIORGOU ◽  
C. GÖBEL ◽  
M. ZAUDIG ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Motor Dysfunction ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Facial Movements ◽  
Kinematical Analysis ◽  
The Face

Background. Motor function is deficient in many patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), especially in the face. To investigate subtle motor dysfunction, kinematical analysis of emotional facial expressions can be used. Our aim was to investigate facial movements in response to humorous film stimuli in OCD patients.Method. Kinematical analysis of facial movements was performed. Ultrasound markers at defined points of the face provided exact measurement of facial movements, while subjects watched a humorous movie (‘Mr Bean’). Thirty-four OCD patients (19 male, 15 female; mean (S.D.) age: 35·8 (11·5) years; mean (S.D.) total Y-BOCS score: 25·5 (5·9)) were studied in unmedicated state and after a 10-week treatment with the SSRI sertraline. Thirty-four healthy controls (19 male, 15 female; mean (S.D.) age: 37·5 (13·1) years) were also investigated.Results. At baseline, OCD patients showed significantly slower velocity at the beginning of laughing than healthy controls and a reduced laughing frequency. There was a significant negative correlation between laughing frequency and severity of OCD symptoms. Ten weeks later a significant increase of laughing frequency and initial velocity during laughing was found.Conclusions. Execution of adequate facial reactions to humour is abnormally slow in OCD patients. Susceptibility of OCD patients with regard to emotional stimuli is less pronounced than in healthy subjects. This phenomenon is closely correlated to OCD symptoms and is state-dependent.

Synchrony and Emotion

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 102-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvie Droit-Volet ◽  
Joëlle Provasi
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Behavioral Intentions ◽  
Internal Clock ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Continuation Phase ◽  
High Arousal ◽  
Synchronization Phase ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right ◽  
Clock Mechanism

To anticipate other people’s behavioral intentions and respond to them at the right moment is crucial for efficient social interaction. In the present study, we thus investigated how adults synchronize with emotional facial expressions. The participants had to synchronize their taps with a rhythmical sequence of faces and then continue tapping at the same rhythm without faces. Three inter-stimulus intervals (500, 700, and 900 ms) and six different facial expressions (disgust, neutrality, sadness, joy, anger, and fear) were tested. In the synchronization phase, no difference was observed between the different facial expressions, suggesting that the participants tap in synchrony with external rhythms in the presence of stimuli whatever their emotional characteristics. However, in the continuation phase, an emotion effect emerged, with the individual rhythms being faster for the facial expressions of fear and, to a lesser extent, anger than for the other facial expressions. The motor rhythms were also longer and more variable for the disgusted faces. These findings suggest that the internal clock mechanism underlying the timing of rhythms is accelerated in response to the high-arousal emotions of fear and anger.

scholarly journals Electrophysiological Responses to Emotional Facial Expressions Following a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanie Drapeau ◽  
Nathalie Gosselin ◽  
Isabelle Peretz ◽  
Michelle McKerral
Keyword(s):  
Traumatic Brain Injury ◽  
Brain Injury ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Attentional Processing ◽  
Emotional Recognition ◽  
The Right

The present study aimed to measure neural information processing underlying emotional recognition from facial expressions in adults having sustained a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) as compared to healthy individuals. We thus measured early (N1, N170) and later (N2) event-related potential (ERP) components during presentation of fearful, neutral, and happy facial expressions in 10 adults with mTBI and 11 control participants. Findings indicated significant differences between groups, irrespective of emotional expression, in the early attentional stage (N1), which was altered in mTBI. The two groups showed similar perceptual integration of facial features (N170), with greater amplitude for fearful facial expressions in the right hemisphere. At a higher-level emotional discrimination stage (N2), both groups demonstrated preferential processing for fear as compared to happiness and neutrality. These findings suggest a reduced early selective attentional processing following mTBI, but no impact on the perceptual and higher-level cognitive processes stages. This study contributes to further improving our comprehension of attentional versus emotional recognition following a mild TBI.

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