Impaired conscious recognition of negative facial expressions in patients with locked-in syndrome.
The involvement of facial mimicry in different aspects of human emotional processing is widely debated. However, little is known about relationships between voluntary activation of facial musculature and conscious recognition of facial expressions. To address this issue, we assessed severely motor-disabled patients with complete paralysis of voluntary facial movements due to lesions of the ventral pons [locked-in syndrome (LIS)]. Patients were required to recognize others' facial expressions and to rate their own emotional responses to presentation of affective scenes. LIS patients were selectively impaired in recognition of negative facial expressions, thus demonstrating that the voluntary activation of mimicry represents a high-level simulation mechanism crucially involved in explicit attribution of emotions.
Post Coma and Rehabilitation Care Unit, San Raffaele Cassino, 03043 Cassino, Italy.
Francesca
F
Pistoia
Massimiliano
M
Conson
Luigi
L
Trojano
Dario
D
Grossi
Marta
M
Ponari
Claudio
C
Colonnese
Maria L
ML
Pistoia
Filippo
F
Carducci
Marco
M
Sarà
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D005149:Facial Expression; D005158:Facial Paralysis / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011149:Pons / Q000473:pathology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D021641:Recognition, Psychology