Facial emotion recognition in children of parents with a mental illness.

Objective: Facial emotion recognition (FER) is a fundamental social skill essential for adaptive social behaviors, emotional development, and overall well-being. FER impairments have been linked to various mental disorders, making it a critical transdiagnostic mechanism influencing the development and trajectory of mental disorders. FER has also been found to play a role in the transgenerational transmission of mental disorders, with the majority of research suggesting FER impairments in children of parents with a mental illness (COPMI). Previous research primarily concentrated on COPMI of parents with internalizing disorders, which does not cover the full spectrum of outpatient mental health service populations. Furthermore, research focuses on varying components of FER by using different assessment paradigms, making it challenging to compare study results. To address these gaps, we comprehensively investigated FER abilities in COPMI using multiple tasks varying in task characteristics. Methods: We included 189 children, 77 COPMI and 112 children of parents without a diagnosed mental illness (COPWMI), aged 6 to 16 years. We assessed FER using three tasks with varying task demands: an emotional Go/NoGo task, a morphing task, and a task presenting short video sequences depicting different emotions. We fitted separate two-level hierarchical Bayesian models (to account for sibling pairs in our sample) for reaction times and accuracy rates for each task. Good model fit was assured by comparing models using varying priors. Results: Contrary to our expectations, our results revealed no general FER deficit in COPMI compared to COPWMI. The Bayesian models fitted for accuracy in the morphing task and Go/NoGo task yielded small yet significant effects. However, Bayes factors fitted for the models suggested that these effects could be due to random variations or noise in the data. Conclusions: Our study does not support FER impairments as a general feature of COPMI. Instead, individual factors, such as the type of parental disorder and the timing of its onset, may play a crucial role in influencing FER development. Future research should consider these factors, taking into account the diverse landscape of parental mental disorders.

A Randomized Trial Utilizing EEG Brain Computer Interface to Improve Facial Emotion Recognition in Autistic Adults.

PURPOSE: Many individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience challenges with facial emotion recognition (FER), which may exacerbate social difficulties in ASD. Few studies have examined whether FER can be experimentally manipulated and improved for autistic people. This study utilized a randomized controlled trial design to examine acceptability and preliminary clinical impact of a novel mixed reality-based neurofeedback program, FER Assistant, using EEG brain computer interface (BCI)-assisted technology to improve FER for autistic adolescents and adults. METHODS: Twenty-seven autistic male participants (M age: 21.12 years; M IQ: 105.78; 85% white) were randomized to the active condition to receive FER Assistant (n = 17) or waitlist control (n = 10). FER Assistant participants received ten sessions utilizing BCI-assisted neurofeedback training in FER. All participants, regardless of randomization, completed a computerized FER task at baseline and endpoint. RESULTS: Results partially indicated that FER Assistant was acceptable to participants. Regression analyses demonstrated that participation in FER Assistant led to group differences in FER at endpoint, compared to a waitlist control. However, analyses examining reliable change in FER indicated no reliable improvement or decline for FER Assistant participants, whereas two waitlist participants demonstrated reliable decline. CONCLUSION: Given the preliminary nature of this work, results collectively suggest that FER Assistant may be an acceptable intervention. Results also suggest that FER may be a potential mechanism that is amenable to intervention for autistic individuals, although additional trials using larger sample sizes are warranted.

Image-based facial emotion recognition using convolutional neural network on emognition dataset.

Detecting emotions from facial images is difficult because facial expressions can vary significantly. Previous research on using deep learning models to classify emotions from facial images has been carried out on various datasets that contain a limited range of expressions. This study expands the use of deep learning for facial emotion recognition (FER) based on Emognition dataset that includes ten target emotions: amusement, awe, enthusiasm, liking, surprise, anger, disgust, fear, sadness, and neutral. A series of data preprocessing was carried out to convert video data into images and augment the data. This study proposes Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) models built through two approaches, which are transfer learning (fine-tuned) with pre-trained models of Inception-V3 and MobileNet-V2 and building from scratch using the Taguchi method to find robust combination of hyperparameters setting. The proposed model demonstrated favorable performance over a series of experimental processes with an accuracy and an average F1-score of 96% and 0.95, respectively, on the test data.

[Clinical and psychometric characteristics of cognitive and negative disorders in schizophrenia]. / Klinicheskie i psikhometricheskie osobennosti kognitivnykh i negativnykh rasstroistv pri shizofrenii.

OBJECTIVE: To establish the characteristics of clinical manifestations and cognitive tests in patients with schizophrenia, with a predominance of cognitive and negative disorders. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We examined 76 patients, 66 in the main group, 10 in the comparison group, who were treated in Psychiatric Hospital No. 1 and Psychiatric Hospital No. 4 (Moscow). Clinical-psychopathological, psychometric and statistical methods were used. Features of cognitive functioning were studied using the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) and the Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Screen (ECAS). Emotional intelligence scores were assessed using the Ekman Face Emotion Recognition (EFER) test. RESULTS: Patients with schizophrenia showed dominance of one of 3 types of deficit symptoms: cognitive, emotional, and volitional. Cognitive functions were significantly reduced in patients with schizophrenia when compared with the comparison group (mean FAB score (M±SD) 13.44±2.97 in patients with schizophrenia vs. 16.10±1.70 in the comparison group; t=4.10; p<0.001). Cognitive functions were particularly reduced in patients with volitional deficit (mean EFER total score 42.40±9.0 in patients with volitional deficit vs. 47.21±633 in patients with cognitive deficit; t=2.12; p=0.039; mean FAB score 12.83±3.29 in patients with volitional deficit vs. 16.10±1.70 in the comparison group; t=4.24; p<0.001; mean ECAS score specific to ALS 78.80±9.07 in patients with volitional deficit vs. 84.50±6.71 in the comparison group; t=2.18; p=0.034). CONCLUSION: The greatest contribution to the development of cognitive disorders in schizophrenia is made by dysfunction of frontal (especially) and temporal cortex. Executive functions, speech skills and verbal fluency are most severely damaged.

Decomposing the variance in early maladaptive schemas: the major role of one general factor, the minor role of domains, and their differential relations to facial emotion recognition.

Introduction: Despite the growing interest in the early maladaptive schemas, the progress in understanding their impacts is decelerated by a lack of clear understanding of their structure. Different composite scores are calculated without a solid ground or a clarified meaning. Here we explain that the schema variance can be theoretically decomposed into three components: schema-specific, domain-specific due to the unmet core needs, and the common variance we call general susceptibility; each can differentially correlate with other substantive variables. Using this framework, we empirically examine the structure of schemas and their relationships to facial emotion recognition, a crucial ability that can widely affect our social interactions. Methods: A sample of adults completed an emotion recognition task and the Young Schema Questionnaire. Using different factor models, the specific and shared variance across schemas was analyzed. Then, the relation of these variance components to facial emotion recognition was explored. Results: A general factor explained 27%, 40%, and 64% of the total variance in items, schemas, and domains, respectively. Partialling out the common variance, there was little domain-specific variance remained. Regarding facial emotion recognition, they were not correlated with specific schemas; however, the general susceptibility factor was correlated with anger recognition. Discussion: The variance decomposition approach to schemas, which uses the bifactor model, may offer a clearer way to explore the impacts of schemas. While domain scores are widely used, their reliability, validity, and meaning are questionable. The generic factor, which is consistently extractable from empirical data, requires further attention.

Facial recognition, laterality judgement, alexithymia and resulting central nervous system adaptations in chronic primary headache and facial pain-A systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Patients with chronic headaches and chronic oro-facial pain commonly present psychosocial issues that can affect social interactions. A possible reason could be that patients with these disorders might present impairments in facial recognition, laterality judgement and also alexithymia. However, a systematic review summarizing the effects of facial emotion recognition, laterality judgement and alexithymia in individuals with headaches and oro-facial pain is still not available. AIM: The main objective of this systematic review (SR) and meta-analysis (MA) was to compile and synthesize the evidence on the occurrence of alexithymia, deficits in laterality or left-right (LR) recognition and/or facial emotion recognition (FER) in patients with chronic headache and facial pain. METHODS: Electronic searches were conducted in five databases (up to September 2023) and a manual search to identify relevant studies. The outcomes of interest were alexithymia scores, speed and accuracy in LR and/or FER, or any other quantitative data assessing body image distortions. The screening process, data extraction, risk of bias and data analysis were performed by two independent assessors following standards for systematic reviews. RESULTS: From 1395 manuscripts found, only 34 studies met the criteria. The overall quality/certainty of the evidence was very low. Although the results should be interpreted carefully, individuals with chronic headaches showed significantly higher levels of alexithymia when compared to healthy individuals. No conclusive results were found for the other variables of interest. CONCLUSION: Although the overall evidence from this review is very low, people with chronic primary headaches and oro-facial pain could be regularly screened for alexithymia to guarantee appropriate management.

Facial emotion recognition function and white matter microstructural alterations in drug-naive, comorbidity-free autism.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder have deficits in facial emotion recognition and white matter microstructural alterations. Nonetheless, most previous studies were confounded by different variables, such as psychiatric comorbidities and psychotropic medications used by ASD participants. Also, it remains unclear how exactly FER deficits are related to white matter microstructural alterations in ASD. Accordingly, we aimed to investigate the FER functions, white matter microstructure, and their relationship in drug-naive and comorbidity-free ASD individuals. 59 ASD individuals and 59 typically developed individuals were included, where 46 ASD and 50 TD individuals completed FER tasks. Covariance analysis showed scores were lower in both basic and complex FER tasks in the ASD group. Tract-Based Spatial Statistics showed FA values in widespread white matter fibers were lower in the ASD group than in the TD group, including forceps major and forceps minor of the corpus callosum, anterior thalamic radiation, corticospinal tract, cingulum, inferior frontal-occipital fasciculus, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, superior longitudinal fasciculus. Moreover, in the TD group but not the ASD group, the performance in the complex FER task was negatively correlated with the FA value in some white matter fibers, including forceps major of the corpus callosum, ATR, CT, cingulum, IFOF, ILF, SLF. Our study suggests children with ASD may experience deficits in facial emotion recognition and exhibit alterations in white matter microstructure. More importantly, our study indicates that white matter microstructural alterations may be involved in FER deficits in children with ASD.

Social cognition in Idiopathic generalised epilepsies.

Social cognition is a set of mental skills necessary to create satisfactory interpersonal relationships and feel a sense of belonging to a social group. Its deficits significantly reduce the quality of life in people with epilepsy. Studies on social cognition and its impairments focus predominantly on people with focal epilepsies. Idiopathic generalised epilepsies are a group of diseases that share similar clinical, prognostic and electrographic characteristics. Despite their typically normal intelligence, people with Idiopathic generalised epilepsies can suffer from learning disabilities and executive dysfunctions. Current studies also suggest social cognition impairments, but their results are inconsistent. This review offers the latest knowledge of social cognition in adults with Idiopathic generalised epilepsies. In addition, we provide an overview of the most frequently used assessment methods. We explain possible reasons for different outcomes and discuss future research perspectives.

Implications of depressive mood in OSAHS patients: insights from event-related potential.

BACKGROUND: Obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is a chronic breathing disorder characterized by recurrent upper airway obstruction during sleep. Although previous studies have shown a link between OSAHS and depressive mood, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying mood disorders in OSAHS patients remain poorly understood. This study aims to investigate the emotion processing mechanism in OSAHS patients with depressive mood using event-related potentials (ERPs). METHODS: Seventy-four OSAHS patients were divided into the depressive mood and non-depressive mood groups according to their Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) scores. Patients underwent overnight polysomnography and completed various cognitive and emotional questionnaires. The patients were shown facial images displaying positive, neutral, and negative emotions and tasked to identify the emotion category, while their visual evoked potential was simultaneously recorded. RESULTS: The two groups did not differ significantly in age, BMI, and years of education, but showed significant differences in their slow wave sleep ratio (P = 0.039), ESS (P = 0.006), MMSE (P < 0.001), and MOCA scores (P = 0.043). No significant difference was found in accuracy and response time on emotional face recognition between the two groups. N170 latency in the depressive group was significantly longer than the non-depressive group (P = 0.014 and 0.007) at the bilateral parieto-occipital lobe, while no significant difference in N170 amplitude was found. No significant difference in P300 amplitude or latency between the two groups. Furthermore, N170 amplitude at PO7 was positively correlated with the arousal index and negatively with MOCA scores (both P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: OSAHS patients with depressive mood exhibit increased N170 latency and impaired facial emotion recognition ability. Special attention towards the depressive mood among OSAHS patients is warranted for its implications for patient care.

Negative mood induction in children: An examination across mood, physiological, and cognitive variables.

Experimental mood induction procedures are commonly used in studies of children's emotions, although research on their effectiveness is lacking. Studies that support their effectiveness report sample-level changes in self-reported affect from pre- to post-induction, and a subset of children who do not self-report expected changes in affect (i.e., "nonresponders"). Given children's limited abilities to self-report their emotions, it is critical to know whether these paradigms also shift physiological and social-cognitive indices of emotion. We hypothesized increases in physiological reactivity and accuracy for discerning facial expressions of negative emotions from pre- to post-induction and smaller increases for nonresponders, Children (N = 80; 7- to 12-year-olds) completed a facial emotion recognition task and had an electrocardiogram recorded to index high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) before and after a mood induction procedure. The mood induction involved watching a 3-min sad film clip while attending to their feelings. In the sample overall, from pre- to post-mood induction, children self-reported significantly sadder affect, displayed significant increases in HF-HRV, and displayed significant increases in accuracy of recognizing facial emotion expressions congruent with the mood induced. One quarter (25%) of the sample did not self-report expected increases in sad affect. Contrary to expectations, responders and nonresponders did not differ in mood-induced changes in physiological reactivity or emotion recognition accuracy. These findings support that mood inductions are efficacious in shifting not only children's self-reported affect but also underlying physiological and social-cognitive processes. Furthermore, they are an effective methodology for research questions related to underlying processes even in self-reported nonresponders.

Congenital Anosmia and Facial Emotion Recognition.

Major functions of the olfactory system include guiding ingestion and avoidance of environmental hazards. People with anosmia report reliance on others, for example to check the edibility of food, as their primary coping strategy. Facial expressions are a major source of non-verbal social information that can be used to guide approach and avoidance behaviour. Thus, it is of interest to explore whether a life-long absence of the sense of smell heightens sensitivity to others' facial emotions, particularly those depicting threat. In the present, online study 28 people with congenital anosmia (mean age 43.46) and 24 people reporting no olfactory dysfunction (mean age 42.75) completed a facial emotion recognition task whereby emotionally neutral faces (6 different identities) morphed, over 40 stages, to express one of 5 basic emotions: anger, disgust, fear, happiness, or sadness. Results showed that, while the groups did not differ in their ability to identify the final, full-strength emotional expressions, nor in the accuracy of their first response, the congenital anosmia group successfully identified the emotions at significantly lower intensity (i.e. an earlier stage of the morph) than the control group. Exploratory analysis showed this main effect was primarily driven by an advantage in detecting anger and disgust. These findings indicate the absence of a functioning sense of smell during development leads to compensatory changes in visual, social cognition. Future work should explore the neural and behavioural basis for this advantage.

Let's face it! The role of social anxiety and executive functions in recognizing others' emotions from faces: Evidence from autism and specific learning disorders.

Youth with different developmental disorders might experience challenges when dealing with facial emotion recognition (FER). By comparing FER and related emotional and cognitive factors across developmental disorders, researchers can gain a better understanding of challenges and strengths associated with each condition. The aim of the present study was to investigate how social anxiety and executive functioning might underlie FER in youth with and without autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and specific learning disorders (SLD). The study involved 263 children and adolescents between 8 and 16 years old divided into three groups matched for age, sex, and IQ: 60 (52 M) with ASD without intellectual disability, 63 (44 M) with SLD, and 140 (105 M) non-diagnosed. Participants completed an FER test, three executive functions' tasks (inhibition, updating, and set-shifting), and parents filled in a questionnaire reporting their children's social anxiety. Our results suggest that better FER was consistent with higher social anxiety and better updating skills in ASD, while with lower social anxiety in SLD. Clinical practice should focus on coping strategies in autistic youth who could feel anxiety when facing social cues, and on self-efficacy and social worries in SLD. Executive functioning should also be addressed to support social learning in autism.

Facial emotion recognition is associated with executive functions and depression scores, but not staging of dementia, in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease.

BACKGROUND: Although deficits in facial emotion recognition (FER) significantly affect interpersonal communication and social functioning, there is no consensus on how FER affects Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study, we aimed to investigate the clinical and neuropsychological factors affecting the possible deficits in the FER abilities of patients with AD. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 37 patients with mild [clinical dementia rating (CDR) scale score = 1] or moderate (CDR = 2) AD, in whom vascular dementia and depression were excluded, and 24 cognitively normal (CDR = 0) subjects. FER ability was determined using the facial emotion identification test (FEIT) and facial emotion discrimination test (FEDT). All participants underwent mini-mental state examination (MMSE), frontal assessment battery (FAB), and geriatric depression scale (GDS). The neuropsychiatric inventory-clinician rating scale (NPI-C), Katz index of independence in activities of daily living, and Lawton instrumental activities of daily living were also administered to patients with AD. RESULTS: The FEIT and FEDT total scores showed that patients with mild and moderate AD had significant FER deficits compared to healthy controls. However, no significant difference was observed between patients with mild and moderate AD in the FEIT and FEDT total scores. FEIT and FEDT scores were not correlated with the MMSE and NPI-C total and subscales scores in patients with AD. Linear regression indicated that FEIT and FEDT total scores were significantly related to age and FAB scores. The GDS score negatively moderated the relationship between FAB and FEDT. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated a decreased FER ability in patients with AD. The critical point in FER deficits is the presence of dementia, not the dementia stage, in AD. It has been determined that executive functions and depression (even at a subsyndromal level), which have limited knowledge, are associated with FER abilities.

Preschoolers' cognitive flexibility and emotion understanding: a developmental perspective.

Introduction: Cognitive flexibility is the ability to adapt to changing tasks or problems, while emotion understanding is the ability to interpret emotional cues and information in different contexts. Both abilities are crucial for preschoolers' socialization. Methods: This study selected 532 preschool children aged 3-6 years from two kindergartens in a central province of China. The Dimensional Change Card Sorting (DCCS) task and emotion understanding tasks were used to investigate the developmental characteristics of cognitive flexibility, emotion understanding abilities, and their relationship. Results: The results showed: (1) For cognitive flexibility, children older than 5 years scored significantly higher than younger children, and girls scored higher than boys. (2) For facial emotion recognition: (i) Children's recognition scores for happy, sad, and angry expressions were significantly higher than fear; children could accurately recognize happy, sad, and angry emotions by age 3, while fear recognition developed rapidly after age 5; (ii) Girls scored higher in recognizing fearful faces than boys. (3) For situational emotion understanding: (i) Children's development followed the hierarchical order of external, desire, clue, and belief-based understanding. Situational and desire-based understanding already reached high levels by age 3, while clue and belief-based understanding developed quickly after age 5; (ii) Girls scored higher than boys in belief-based emotion understanding. (4) Cognitive flexibility significantly predicted children's facial emotion recognition, external and desire-based emotion understanding. Discussion: Parents and teachers should cultivate children's cognitive flexibility and provide personalized support. They should also fully grasp the characteristics of children's emotion understanding development, systematically nurture their emotion understanding abilities, and leverage cognitive flexibility training to improve their emotion understanding.

On the brain struggles to recognize basic facial emotions with face masks: an fMRI study.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic impacted public health and our lifestyles, leading to new social adaptations such as quarantine, social distancing, and facial masks. Face masks, covering extended facial zones, hamper our ability to extract relevant socio-emotional information from others' faces. In this fMRI study, we investigated how face masks interfere with facial emotion recognition, focusing on brain responses and connectivity patterns as a function of the presence of a face mask. Methods: A total of 25 healthy participants (13F; mean age: 32.64 ± 7.24y; mean education: 18.28 ± 1.31y) were included. Participants underwent task-related fMRI during the presentation of images of faces expressing basic emotions (joy or fear versus neutral expression). Half of the faces were covered by a face mask. Subjects had to recognize the facial emotion (masked or unmasked). FMRI whole-brain and regions-of-interest analyses were performed, as well as psychophysiological interaction analysis (PPI). Results: Subjects recognized better and faster emotions on unmasked faces. FMRI analyses showed that masked faces induced a stronger activation of a right occipito-temporal cluster, including the fusiform gyrus and the occipital face area bilaterally. The same activation pattern was found for the neutral masked > neutral unmasked contrast. PPI analyses of the masked > unmasked contrast showed, in the right occipital face area, a stronger correlation with the left superior frontal gyrus, left precentral gyrus, left superior parietal lobe, and the right supramarginal gyrus. Discussion: Our study showed how our brain differentially struggles to recognize face-masked basic emotions, implementing more neural resources to correctly categorize those incomplete facial expressions.

Is impairment of facial emotion recognition independent of cognitive dysfunction in multiple sclerosis?

BACKGROUND: Emotions expressed on the face play a key role in social cognition and communication by providing inner emotional experiences. This study aimed to evaluate facial emotion identification and discrimination and empathy abilities in patients with MS and whether it is related to cognitive dysfunction. METHODS: One hundred twenty patients with relapsing-remitting MS and age- and sex-matched 120 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. All the subjects were evaluated with the Facial Emotion Identification Test (FEIT), Facial Emotion Discrimination Test (FEIDT), and Empathy Quotient (EQ). We used the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) for depression and detailed cognitive tests, including the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), and the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT). The quality of life was assessed with Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life-54 (MSQL-54). RESULTS: Patients with MS were 37.6 ± 9.5 years old, had a mean disease duration of 8.8 ± 6.6 (8-28) years, and a mean EDSS score of 1.6 ± 1.3 (0-4.5). We found significant differences in the identification of facial emotions, discrimination of facial emotions, and empathy in MS patients compared to controls (p < 0.05). Especially the recognition of feelings of sadness, fear, and shame was significantly lower in MS patients. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed low SDMT and FEIDT scores which showed an independent association with MS. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that facial emotion recognition and identification deficits are remarkable among patients with MS and emotion recognition is impaired together with and independently of cognitive dysfunction in MS patients.

Assessing Complex Emotion Recognition in Children. A Preliminary Study of the CAM-C: Argentine Version / Evaluación del reconocimiento de emociones complejas en niños. Un estudio preliminar del CAM-C: versión argentina

Facial emotion recognition is one of the psychological processes of social cognition that begins during the first year of life, though the accuracy and speed of emotion recognition improves throughout childhood. The objective of this study was to carry out a preliminary study for the adaptation and validation of the CAM-C FACE test in Argentine children from 9 to 14 years old, by measuring hit rates and reaction times. The results of this study show that the unidimensional model is more appropriate when assessing the speed of performance (reaction times), with a satisfactory reliability (ρ = .950). Results also indicated that girls presented more correct answers compared to boys, while boys had longer reaction times. In addition, the group of children from 12 to 14 years old presented more correct answers compared to the group from 9 to 11 years old, while no differences were observed between groups in terms of reaction times. (AU)

El reconocimiento facial de emociones es uno de los procesos psicológicos de la cognición social que comienza durante el primer año de vida, aunque la precisión y la velocidad de reconocimiento emocional mejora a lo largo de la infancia. El objetivo de esta investigación fue realizar un estudio preliminar de la adaptación y validación del test CAM-C FACE en niños argentinos de 9 a 14 años de edad, evaluando las respuestas correctas y los tiempos de reacción. Los resultados mostraron que el modelo unidimensional es el más apropiado cuando se mide la velocidad de ejecución (tiempos de reacción), con una confiabilidad satisfactoria (ρ = .950). Los resultados también indicaron que las niñas presentan más respuestas correctas que los niños, mientras que estos tienen tiempos de reacción más largos. Asimismo, el grupo de niños de 12 a 14 años presentan más respuestas correctas que el de 9 a 11 años, mientras que no se observan diferencias entre grupos de edad en el tiempo de reacción. (AU)

Facial emotion recognition deficits are associated with hypomimia and related brain correlates in Parkinson's disease.

Hypomimia is a frequent manifestation in Parkinson's disease (PD) that can affect interpersonal relationships and quality of life. Recent studies have suggested that hypomimia is not only related to motor dysfunction but also to impairment in emotional processing networks. Therefore, we hypothesized that the severity of hypomimia could be associated with performance on a task aimed at assessing facial emotion recognition. In this study, we explored the association between hypomimia, recognition of facial expressions of basic emotions using the Ekman 60 Faces Test (EF), and brain correlates of both hypomimia and performance on the EF. A total of 94 subjects underwent clinical assessments (neurological and neuropsychological examinations), and 56 of them participated in the neuroimaging study. We found significant correlation between hypomimia, EF Disgust (r = -0.242, p = 0.022) and EF Happiness (r = -0.264, p = 0.012); an independent reduction in Cortical Thickness (Cth) in the postcentral gyrus, insula, middle and superior temporal gyri, supramarginal gyrus, banks of the superior temporal sulcus, bilateral fusiform gyri, entorhinal cortex, parahippocampal gyrus, inferior and superior parietal cortex, and right cuneus and precuneus; and multiple correlations between negative emotions such as EF Disgust or EF Anger and a reduced Cth in fronto-temporo-parietal regions. In conclusion, these results suggest that the association between hypomimia and emotion recognition deficits in individuals with PD might be mediated by shared circuits, supporting the concept that hypomimia is not only the result of the dysfunction of motor circuits, but also of higher cognitive functions.

The role of leadership level in college students' facial emotion recognition: evidence from event-related potential analysis.

While the role of emotion in leadership practice is well-acknowledged, there is still a lack of clarity regarding the behavioral distinctions between individuals with varying levels of leadership and the underlying neurocognitive mechanisms at play. This study utilizes facial emotion recognition in conjunction with electroencephalograms to explore the temporal dynamics of facial emotion recognition processes among college students with high and low levels of leadership. The results showed no significant differences in the amplitude of P1 during the early stage of facial emotion recognition between the two groups. In the middle stage of facial emotion recognition, the main effect of group was significant on the N170 component, with higher N170 amplitude evoked in high-leadership students than low-leadership students. In the late stage of facial emotion recognition, low-leadership students evoked greater LPP amplitude in the temporal-parietal lobe when recognizing happy facial emotions compared to high-leadership students. In addition, time-frequency results revealed a difference in the alpha frequency band, with high-leadership students exhibiting lower alpha power than low-leadership students. The results suggest differences in the brain temporal courses of facial emotion recognition between students with different leadership levels, which are mainly manifested in the middle stage of structural encoding and the late stage of delicate emotional processing during facial emotion recognition.

"I cannot see your fear!" Altered recognition of fearful facial expressions in anorexia nervosa.

Background: The evidence about facial emotion recognition in anorexia nervosa as the role of alexithymic traits on this emotional ability is conflicting and heterogeneous. Objective: We assessed the capability of recognizing facial expressions of two primary emotions, fear, and anger, in the context of anorexia nervosa. Methods: Women affected by anorexia nervosa were compared with healthy weight women in a well-established implicit facial emotion recognition task. Both reaction time and level of accuracy were computed. Moreover, the individual levels of alexithymia were assessed through a standard self-report questionnaire. Results: Participants with anorexia nervosa reported a significantly lower performance in terms of reaction time and accuracy when the emotion of fear-but not anger-was the target. Notably, such an alteration was linked to the levels of alexithymia reported in the self-report questionnaire. Conclusion: In anorexia nervosa, difficulties in processing facial fearful (but not angry) expressions may be observed as linked to higher expressions of alexithymic traits. We suggested future research in which emotional processing will be investigated taking into account the role of the bodily dimensions of emotional awareness.