Characterization of the Facial Expression of Emotions in Schizophrenia Patients: Preliminary Findings with a New Electromyography Method

Wolf, Karsten D.; Maß, Reinhard; Kiefer, Falk; Wiedemann, Klaus

doi:10.1177/070674370605100601

Cited by 33 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 21 publications

(29 reference statements)

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“…Such an imbalance in emotional motor resonance (with a proneness to resonate with negative stimuli along with a missing resonance to positive stimuli) is consistent with the previous literature [25,49,50,51,52,53,54] and might result - on a clinical level - in an aberrant assignment of salience [55] to negative stimuli.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Mirroring the Self: Testing Neurophysiological Correlates of Disturbed Self-Experience in Schizophrenia Spectrum

et al. 2015

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Background: Self-disorders (SDs) have been described as a core schizophrenia spectrum vulnerability phenotype, both in classic and contemporary psychopathological literature. However, such a core phenotype has not yet been investigated adopting a trans-domain approach that combines the phenomenological and the neurophysiological levels of analysis. The aim of this study is to investigate the relation between SDs and subtle, schizophrenia-specific impairments of emotional resonance that are supposed to reflect abnormalities in the mirror neurons mechanism. Specifically, we tested whether electromyographic response to emotional stimuli (i.e. a proxy for subtle changes in facial mimicry and related motor resonance mechanisms) would predict the occurrence of anomalous subjective experiences (i.e. SDs). Sampling and Methods: Eighteen schizophrenia spectrum (SzSp) patients underwent a comprehensive psychopathological examination and were contextually tested with a multimodal paradigm, recording facial electromyographic activity of muscles in response to positive and negative emotional stimuli. Experiential anomalies were explored with the Bonn Scale for the Assessment of Basic Symptoms (BSABS) and then condensed into rational subscales mapping SzSp anomalous self-experiences. Results: SzSp patients showed an imbalance in emotional motor resonance with a selective bias toward negative stimuli, as well as a multisensory integration impairment. Multiple regression analysis showed that electromyographic facial reactions in response to negative stimuli presented in auditory modality specifically and strongly correlated with SD subscore. Conclusions: The study confirms the potential of SDs as target phenotype for neurobiological research and encourages research into disturbed motor/emotional resonance as possible body-level correlate of disturbed subjective experiences in SzSp.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Mirroring the Self: Testing Neurophysiological Correlates of Disturbed Self-Experience in Schizophrenia Spectrum

et al. 2015

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“…Future research is needed to ascertain whether rapid facial movements relate to social functioning in this group. It should also be noted that the size of the schizophrenia sample was comparable to, or larger than, all previous EMG studies that have been conducted with this group (Median n = 17.5; Kring et al, 1999 ;Mattes et al, 1995 ;Wolf et al, 2004Wolf et al, , 2006. The group differences also cannot be easily attributed to attentional or motivational factors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Empathic deficits in schizophrenia: The potential role of rapid facial mimicry

Varcin

Bailey

Henry

2010

J Int Neuropsychol Soc

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Emotional facial expressions evoke rapid, involuntary, and covert facial reactions in the perceiver that are consistent with the emotional valence of the observed expression. These responses are believed to be an important low-level mechanism contributing to the experience of empathy, which some have argued rely on a simulation mechanism subserved by the human mirror neuron system (MNS). Because schizophrenia is associated with pervasive social cognitive diffi culties which have been linked to structural abnormalities in the MNS network, the aim of the present study was to provide the fi rst assessment of how rapid facial mimicry reactions (within 1000 ms poststimulus onset) are affected in schizophrenia. Activity in the corrugator supercilii and zygomaticus major muscle regions was quantifi ed using electromyography while individuals with schizophrenia ( n = 25) and controls ( n = 25) viewed images of happy and angry facial expressions. In contrast to controls, individuals with schizophrenia demonstrated atypical facial mimicry reactions which were not associated with any clinical features of the disorder. These data provide evidence for a low-level disruption that may be contributing to empathizing defi cits in schizophrenia and are discussed in relation to neuropsychological models of empathy and schizophrenia. ( JINS , 2010, 16 , 621-629.)

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“…Increased activity of the levator labii superioris is observed in anger and disgust [40]. The orbicularis oculi show an increased activity in the contexts of disgust and happiness [40,41]. For the occipitofrontalis muscle, increased activity in sadness [37], fear [42] and surprise [43] has been reported.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Facial Reactions during Emotion Recognition in Borderline Personality Disorder: A Facial Electromyography Study

et al. 2013

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Background: Previous studies have suggested increased sensitivity for emotional facial expressions and subtle impairments in emotion recognition from facial expressions in borderline personality disorder (BPD). It has been proposed that facial mimicry contributes to emotion recognition of and emotional response to facial expressions. This study investigated whether BPD patients differ in facial reactions, emotion recognition and their subjective emotional response to faces showing different emotional expressions. Method: Twenty-eight female BPD patients and 28 healthy controls underwent a facial recognition task with dynamic facial pictures while facial muscle activity (occipitofrontalis, corrugator supercilii, levator labii superioris, zygomaticus major and orbicularis oculi) was recorded. Furthermore, participants rated the emotional intensity of the presented faces and the intensity of their subjective feeling of this emotion. Results: Compared to controls, BPD patients showed enhanced responses of the corrugator supercilii muscle in response to angry, sad and disgusted facial expressions, and attenuated responses of the levator labii superioris in response to happy and surprised faces. There were no overall group differences regarding emotion recognition performance or intensity ratings. Conclusion: These results do not support the view that facial recognition in BPD is impaired or that there is a general hypersensitivity to the emotional state of others. Instead, they suggest a negativity bias in BPD, expressed by reduced facial responding to positive social signals and increased facial responding to negative social signals. This is a pattern of facial reactions that might contribute to the difficulties in social interactions frequently reported by patients with this disorder.

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Characterization of the Facial Expression of Emotions in Schizophrenia Patients: Preliminary Findings with a New Electromyography Method

Cited by 33 publications

References 21 publications

Mirroring the Self: Testing Neurophysiological Correlates of Disturbed Self-Experience in Schizophrenia Spectrum

Mirroring the Self: Testing Neurophysiological Correlates of Disturbed Self-Experience in Schizophrenia Spectrum

Empathic deficits in schizophrenia: The potential role of rapid facial mimicry

Facial Reactions during Emotion Recognition in Borderline Personality Disorder: A Facial Electromyography Study

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