Electromyographic evidence for age-related differences in the mimicry of anger.
Although older adults have difficulty recognizing all facial emotions, they have particular difficulty decoding expressions of anger. Since disruption of facial mimicry impairs emotion recognition, electromyography of the corrugator supercilii (i.e., brow) muscle region was used to test whether there are age differences in anger mimicry. Associations between mimicry and emotion recognition were also assessed. The results indicated that although there were no age differences in anger mimicry, older (but not young) adults' corrugator responses to angry expressions were associated with reduced anger recognition. Implications for understanding emotion recognition difficulties in older adulthood are discussed.
Bailey
Phoebe E
PE
School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. pbailey@psy.unsw.edu.au
Henry
Julie D
JD
Nangle
Matthew R
MR
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000786:Anger / Q000502:physiology*; D004576:Electromyography; D005149:Facial Expression; D005152:Facial Muscles / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult