Identifying and Describing Subtypes of Spontaneous Empathic Facial Expression Production in Autistic Adults

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Quinde Zlibut ◽  
Anabil Munshi ◽  
Gautam Biswas ◽  
Carissa Cascio
Keyword(s):  
Social Skills ◽  
Facial Expression ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Individual Variability ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Stable Clusters ◽  
Autism Symptomatology ◽  
Autistic Adults

Abstract Background: It is unclear whether atypical patterns of facial expression production metrics in autism reflect the dynamic and nuanced nature of facial expressions or a true diagnostic difference. Further, the heterogeneity observed across autism symptomatology suggests a need for more adaptive and personalized social skills programs. For example, it would be useful to have a better understanding of the different expressiveness profiles within the autistic population and how they differ from neurotypicals to help develop systems that train facial expression production and reception. Methods:We used automated facial coding and an unsupervised clustering approach to limit inter-individual variability in facial expression production that may have otherwise obscured group differences in previous studies, allowing an "apples-to-apples" comparison between autistic and neurotypical adults. Specifically, we applied k-means clustering to identify subtypes of facial expressiveness in an autism group (N=27) and a neurotypical control group (N=57) separately. The two most stable clusters from these analyses were then further characterized and compared on the basis of their expressiveness and emotive congruence to emotionally charged stimuli. Results: Our main finding was that autistic adults show heightened spontaneous facial expressions in response to negative emotional images. The group effect did not extend to positive emotional images, and we did not find evidence for greater incongruous (i.e., inappropriate) facial expressions in autism. Conclusion: These findings build on previous work suggesting valence-specific effects of autism on emotional empathy and suggest the need for intervention programs to focus on social skills in the context of both negative and positive emotions.

The facial expression of emotions recognition in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome

2016 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Adam Czyzyk ◽  
Kinga Polak ◽  
Agnieszka Podfigurna ◽  
Stanislaw Kozlowski ◽  
Blazej Meczekalski
Keyword(s):  
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome ◽  
Facial Expression ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Polycystic Ovary ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Eysenck Personality Questionnaire ◽  
Ovary Syndrome ◽  
Pcos Group ◽  
Expression Of Emotions ◽  
Time Required

Background. A facial expression of emotions recognition is one of the basic psychological abilities. Sex steroids are able to strongly modulate the process of interpretation of facial expressions, as it has been shown in Turner syndrome patients.Objective. The aim of this study was the assessment of ability to interpret the facial emotions in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).Methods. Participants completed a visual emotional task in which they were asked to recognize the emotion expressed of 80 randomly chosen facial expressions from NimStim set (Tottenham et al., 2009). With dedicated software we were able to assess the accuracy of patients facial emotion recognition (in comparison to NimStim validation set) and time required to provide the answer. Patients with psychotic personality have been excluded using Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ). All the patients underwent also hormonal tests including gonadotropins, estradiol and androgen concentrations.Patients. 80 women diagnosed with PCOS and hyperandrogenemia were included to the study. The control group consisted of 60 healthy, euovulatory women matched by age.Intervention. Each patient underwent visual emotional and EPQ tasks using specifically designed software.Main outcome measures. The accuracy rate (AR) and time required to recognize emotion (TE) of following emotions: anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise, calm and neutral has been measured.Results. Patients with PCOS showed significantly reduced AR for calm (0.76¬+/-0.09) and surprise (0.67+/-0.18) emotions in comparison to controls (0.81+/-0.09, 0.79+/-0.08 respectively). The TE for the anger was higher in PCOS group. Estradiol concentrations showed a statistic tendency (p=0.07) for correlation with TE for the happiness in controls. Conclusions. In this study we showed for the first time that patients affected by hyperandrogenism shows signs of disturbed recognition of facial expression of emotions. 

Judging and coding facial expression of emotions in congenitally blind children

2001 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 268-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dario Galati ◽  
Renato Miceli ◽  
Barbara Sini
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expression ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Coding System ◽  
Facial Movement ◽  
Blind Children ◽  
Congenitally Blind ◽  
Expression Of Emotions ◽  
Facial Expressiveness

We investigate the facial expression of emotions in very young congenitally blind children to ” nd out whether these are objectively and subjectively recognisable. We also try to see whether the adequacy of the facial expression of emotions changes as the children get older. We video recorded the facial expressions of 10 congenitally blind children and 10 sighted children (as a control group) in seven everyday situations considered as emotion elicitors. The recorded sequences were analysed according to the Maximally Discriminative Facial Movement Coding System (Max; Izard, 1979) and then judged by 280 decoders who used four scales (two dimensional and two categorical) for their answers. The results showed that all the subjects (both the blind and the sighted) were able to express their emotions facially, though not always according to the theoretically expected pattern. Recognition of the various expressions was fairly accurate, but some emotions were systematically confused with others. The decoders’ answers to the dimensional and categorical scales were similar for both blind and sighted subjects. Our ” ndings on objective and subjective judgements show that there was no decrease in the facial expressiveness of the blind children in the period of development considered.

scholarly journals Effects of interactions between facial expressions and self-focused attention on emotion

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0261666
Author(s):  
Ryota Kobai ◽  
Hiroki Murakami
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expression ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
The Other ◽  
Pivotal Role ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
Self Focusing

Self-focus is a type of cognitive processing that maintains negative emotions. Moreover, bodily feedback is also essential for maintaining emotions. This study investigated the effect of interactions between self-focused attention and facial expressions on emotions. The results indicated that control facial expression manipulation after self-focus reduced happiness scores. On the contrary, the smiling facial expression manipulation after self-focus increased happiness scores marginally. However, facial expressions did not affect positive emotions after the other-focus manipulation. These findings suggest that self-focus plays a pivotal role in facial expressions’ effect on positive emotions. However, self-focusing is insufficient for decreasing positive emotions, and the interaction between self-focus and facial expressions is crucial for developing positive emotions.

scholarly journals Degraded Impairment of Emotion Recognition in Parkinson’s Disease Extends from Negative to Positive Emotions

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chia-Yao Lin ◽  
Yi-Min Tien ◽  
Jong-Tsun Huang ◽  
Chon-Haw Tsai ◽  
Li-Chuan Hsu
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Emotion Recognition ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Motor Dysfunction ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Dopaminergic Neurodegeneration ◽  
Motor Problems

Because of dopaminergic neurodegeneration, patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) show impairment in the recognition of negative facial expressions. In the present study, we aimed to determine whether PD patients with more advanced motor problems would show a much greater deficit in recognition of emotional facial expressions than a control group and whether impairment of emotion recognition would extend to positive emotions. Twenty-nine PD patients and 29 age-matched healthy controls were recruited. Participants were asked to discriminate emotions in Experiment  1 and identify gender in Experiment  2. In Experiment  1, PD patients demonstrated a recognition deficit for negative (sadness and anger) and positive faces. Further analysis showed that only PD patients with high motor dysfunction performed poorly in recognition of happy faces. In Experiment  2, PD patients showed an intact ability for gender identification, and the results eliminated possible abilities in the functions measured in Experiment  2 as alternative explanations for the results of Experiment  1. We concluded that patients’ ability to recognize emotions deteriorated as the disease progressed. Recognition of negative emotions was impaired first, and then the impairment extended to positive emotions.

scholarly journals Reconocimiento de expresión facial emocional en el trastorno de déficit de atención e hiperactividad en la infancia

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 79
Author(s):  
Mireia Oliva-Macías ◽  
Pamela Parada-Fernández ◽  
Imanol Amayra ◽  
Esther Lázaro ◽  
Juan F. López-Paz
Keyword(s):  
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Social Skills ◽  
Facial Expression ◽  
Attention Deficit ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Clinical Group ◽  
Adhd Group ◽  
Expression Recognition ◽  
Emotional Facial Expression ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder

Abstract: Recognition of emotional facial expression in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in childhood. The main symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. In addition to cognitive and behavioral deficits present in ADHD, having difficulties in social skills has also been observed in different studies. The objective of this study was to analyze performance in recognizing emotional facial expression in this group. For this, a clinical group with ADHD was compared to a control group. Emotional facial expression recognition tools were applied. No statistically significant differences were found between groups in non-contextualized static emotions. However, differences were found in non-contextualized dynamic emotions, contextualized scenarios and secondary social skills. In addition, a more comprehensive analysis identified a subgroup of children with ADHD that performed better than the other ADHD group of children and similarly to the control group.Resumen: Los síntomas principales del trastorno de déficit de atención/hiperactividad (TDAH) son la inatención, la hiperactividad y la impulsividad. Además de los déficits cognitivos y conductuales presentes en el TDAH, se ha observado en diferentes estudios la presencia de dificultades en las habilidades sociales. El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar el rendimiento en el reconocimiento de expresión facial emocional en este colectivo. Para ello, se comparó un grupo clínico con TDAH con un grupo control. Se emplearon herramientas de reconocimiento de expresión facial emocional. No se encontraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas en las emociones estáticas no contextualizadas entre los dos grupos. Sin embargo, sí se encontraron diferencias en las emociones dinámicas no contextualizadas, en escenarios contextualizados y habilidades sociales secundarias. Además, un análisis más exhaustivo identificó un subgrupo de niños con TDAH con un rendimiento similar al presentado por el grupo control y superior al resto de niños del grupo TDAH. 

scholarly journals A Web-based Game for Teaching Facial Expressions to Schizophrenic Patients

2017 ◽  
Vol 08 (03) ◽  
pp. 719-730
Author(s):  
Filiz işleyen ◽  
Buket Cinemre ◽  
Mehmet Kemal Samur ◽  
Semiha Şen Kaya ◽  
Neşe Zayim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expression ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Computer Games ◽  
Facial Expression Recognition ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Study Group ◽  
Expression Recognition ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients

SummaryBackground: Recognizing facial expressions is an important social skill. In some psychological disorders such as schizophrenia, loss of this skill may complicate the patient’s daily life. Prior research has shown that information technology may help to develop facial expression recognition skills through educational software and games.Objectives: To examine if a computer game designed for teaching facial expressions would improve facial expression recognition skills of patients with schizophrenia.Methods: We developed a website composed of eight serious games. Thirty-two patients were given a pre-test composed of 21 facial expression photographs. Eighteen patients were in the study group while 14 were in the control group. Patients in the study group were asked to play the games on the website. After a period of one month, we performed a post-test for all patients.Results: The median score of the correct answers was 17.5 in the control group whereas it was 16. 5 in the study group (of 21) in pretest. The median post-test score was 18 in the control group (p=0.052) whereas it was 20 in the study group (p<0.001).Conclusions: Computer games may be used for the purpose of educating people who have difficulty in recognizing facial expressions.Citation: Gülkesen KH, Isleyen F, Cinemre B, Samur MK, Sen Kaya S, Zayim N. A web-based game for teaching facial expressions to schizophrenic patients. Appl Clin Inform 2017; 8: 719–730 https://doi.org/10.4338/ACI-2016-10-RA-0172

The face value of feedback: Facial behavior is shaped by goals and punishments during interaction with dynamic faces

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Yi ◽  
Philip Pärnamets ◽  
Andreas Olsson
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Facial Expression ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Mechanistic Explanation ◽  
Experimental Manipulation ◽  
Corrugator Supercilii ◽  
Dynamic Faces ◽  
Facial Behavior ◽  
Reinforcement Learning Models

Responding appropriately to others’ facial expressions is key to successful social functioning. Despite the large body of work on face perception and spontaneous responses to static faces, little is known about responses to faces in dynamic, naturalistic situations, and no study has investigated how goal directed responses to faces are influenced by learning during dyadic interactions. To experimentally model such situations, we developed a novel method based on online integration of electromyography (EMG) signals from the participants’ face (corrugator supercilii and zygomaticus major) during facial expression exchange with dynamic faces displaying happy and angry facial expressions. Fifty-eight participants learned by trial-and-error to avoid receiving aversive stimulation by either reciprocate (congruently) or respond opposite (incongruently) to the expression of the target face. Our results validated our method, showing that participants learned to optimize their facial behavior, and replicated earlier findings of faster and more accurate responses in congruent vs. incongruent conditions. Moreover, participants performed better on trials when confronted with smiling, as compared to frowning, faces, suggesting it might be easier to adapt facial responses to positively associated expressions. Finally, we applied drift diffusion and reinforcement learning models to provide a mechanistic explanation for our findings which helped clarifying the underlying decision-making processes of our experimental manipulation. Our results introduce a new method to study learning and decision-making in facial expression exchange, in which there is a need to gradually adapt facial expression selection to both social and non-social reinforcements.

Capacity-Free Automatic Processing of Facial Expressions of Emotion

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua W Maxwell ◽  
Eric Ruthruff ◽  
michael joseph
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expression ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Face Processing ◽  
Emotional Expressions ◽  
Facial Expression Of Emotion ◽  
Expression Of Emotion ◽  
Facial Expressions Of Emotion ◽  
Correspondence Effect ◽  
Experimental Logic ◽  
Face Task

Are facial expressions of emotion processed automatically? Some authors have not found this to be the case (Tomasik et al., 2009). Here we revisited the question with a novel experimental logic – the backward correspondence effect (BCE). In three dual-task studies, participants first categorized a sound (Task 1) and then indicated the location of a target face (Task 2). In Experiment 1, Task 2 required participants to search for one facial expression of emotion (angry or happy). We observed positive BCEs, indicating that facial expressions of emotion bypassed the central attentional bottleneck and thus were processed in a capacity-free, automatic manner. In Experiment 2, we replicated this effect but found that morphed emotional expressions (which were used by Tomasik) were not processed automatically. In Experiment 3, we observed similar BCEs for another type of face processing previously shown to be capacity-free – identification of familiar faces (Jung et al., 2013). We conclude that facial expressions of emotion are identified automatically when sufficiently unambiguous.

The Effect of Cognitive Remediation Therapy on Social Skills in Institutionalized Elderly Patients with Schizophrenia

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 182-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Mohammadi ◽  
Yadollah Abolfathi Momtaz ◽  
Seyedeh Ameneh Motalebi ◽  
Shahnaz Boosepasi
Keyword(s):  
Social Skills ◽  
Elderly Patients ◽  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
Psychiatric Patients ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Cognitive Remediation ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Cognitive Remediation Therapy ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Institutionalized Elderly

Background: There are limited scientific investigations on cognitive remediation in elderly patients with schizophrenia. The present study was aimed to examine the efficacy of cognitive remediation therapy on social skills in institutionalized elderly patients with schizophrenia. Methods: The study employed a randomized clinical trial. A total of 60 institutionalized elderly patients with schizophrenia from Razi Psychiatric Hospital, Tehran were selected and randomly allocated into two equal groups (control and intervention). The intervention group attended to cognitive remediation therapy for 8 weeks. The Evaluation of Living Skills Scale for psychiatric patients was used for data collection. The Chi Square, independent and paired t-tests using SPSS, version 22, were employed to analyze the data. Results: The mean age of 60 elderly patients participated in the study was 65.25 &#177; 4.19 years. No significant differences were found between two groups at baseline. However, independent t-tests showed significant differences between the intervention and the control group in social skills after implementation of intervention. Additionally, the results of paired t-tests revealed significant improvements in intervention group on communication skills (t=5.50, p<0.001), behavioral problems with others (t=5.44, p<0.001), and self-care (t=4.70, p<0.001). No significant differences were observed from pretest to post test in control group. Conclusion: The results of the present study may support the efficacy of cognitive remediation therapy on social skills of elderly patients with schizophrenia.

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