title: Reduced recognition of fear and sadness in post-traumatic stress disorder.
abstract: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with impairments in emotional experience and expression. The current study examined the recognition of emotional facial expressions in PTSD patients and matched healthy controls, both in terms of accuracy and sensitivity. The task involved short video clips of a neutral face changing (morphing) into one of the six basic emotions (happiness, anger, fear, surprise, disgust and sadness). Clips differed in length, with short clips terminating at 20% of maximum emotional intensity, and the longest ones ending with a full-blown expression. We observed a specific impairment in the PTSD group for recognizing the emotions fear and sadness. This result was observed via a reduced accuracy and a decreased sensitivity for these emotions. We discuss the observed altered affective processing and its possible clinical implications.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, University of Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, Leuven, Belgium. Ervin.Poljac@psy.kuleuven.be
authors.forename: Ervin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Poljac
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Montagne
authors.forename: Edward H F
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: de Haan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004644:Emotions; D005149:Facial Expression; D005239:Fear; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D012938:Social Perception; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*