Selective eye fixations on diagnostic face regions of dynamic emotional expressions: KDEF-dyn database

Abstract

Prior research using static facial stimuli (photographs) has identified diagnostic face regions (i.e., functional for recognition) of emotional expressions. In the current study, we aimed to determine attentional orienting, engagement, and time course of fixation on diagnostic regions. To this end, we assessed the eye movements of observers inspecting dynamic expressions that changed from a neutral to an emotional face. A new stimulus set (KDEF-dyn) was developed, which comprises 240 video-clips of 40 human models portraying six basic emotions (happy, sad, angry, fearful, disgusted, and surprised). For validation purposes, 72 observers categorized the expressions while gaze behavior was measured (probability of first fixation, entry time, gaze duration, and number of fixations). Specific visual scanpath profiles characterized each emotional expression: The eye region was looked at earlier and longer for angry and sad faces; the mouth region, for happy faces; and the nose/cheek region, for disgusted faces; the eye and the mouth regions attracted attention in a more balanced manner for surprise and fear. These profiles reflected enhanced selective attention to expression-specific diagnostic face regions. The KDEF-dyn stimuli and the validation data will be available to the scientific community as a useful tool for research on emotional facial expression processing.

An eye-tracking study of interpersonal threat sensitivity and adverse childhood experiences in borderline personality disorder

“…Moreover, patients with BPD showed faster initial saccades towards the eyes of briefly presented emotional and neutral expressions. Recognizing threatening facial expressions (i.e., anger) relies mostly on allocating visual attention to the face's eye region [30,31]. Hence, directing one's gaze as quickly as possible towards the facial feature that provides the most salient information about interpersonal threat cues might mirror a highly reflexive hypersensitivity for potential signs of social threat in patients with BPD.…”

“…Kaiser et al [29] found female patients with BPD to be more likely to characterize ambivalent emotional blends as angry compared to a clinical control group (Cluster-C personality disorder) and to show prolonged fixations on the eye region of ambiguous facial stimuli compared to a non-patient control group. The eye region is known to convey the most crucial information about threat-related facial expressions [30,31]. Thus, fixating extensively on the eyes of emotional faces might indicate a hypervigilance towards interpersonally relevant and potentially threatening cues, irrespective of the faces' emotional valence [32].…”

Evaluation of an eye tracking setup for studying visual attention in face-to-face conversations

“…This pattern is consistent with findings of face exploration on static stimuli 47 , and in more naturalistic social encounters 4 , 48 , 49 . The investigation using dynamic stimuli has shown, amongst other things, that the fixation of the eye region is modulated by gaze behavior of the stimulus 20 and the facial expression displayed 50 .…”

Perception of “Live” Facial Expressions

“…Указанные значения сближают условия восприятия статики и динамики лица. При категоризации динамических экспрессий распределение и продолжительность фиксаций сходны с теми, которые регистрируются на фотоизображениях: область глаз и бровей является наиболее информативной зоной для распознавания экспрессий гнева и печали; область рта -для радости; средняя часть лица (нос/щеки) -для отвращения; области глаз/бровей и рта -для страха и удивления [34]. С сокращением времени экспозиции динамических экспрессий возникает тенденция преимущественной фиксации взора в центральной части лица [26].…”