Posed facial expressions of emotion in schizophrenia and depression

Abstract

It is generally agreed that schizophrenia patients show a markedly reduced ability to perceive and express facial emotions. Previous studies have shown, however, that such deficits are emotion-specific in schizophrenia and not generalized. Three kinds of studies were examined: decoding studies dealing with schizophrenia patients' ability to perceive universally recognized facial expressions of emotions, encoding studies dealing with schizophrenia patients' ability to express certain facial emotions, and studies of subjective reactions of patients' sensitivity toward universally recognized facial expressions of emotions. A review of these studies shows that schizophrenia patients, despite a general impairment of perception or expression of facial emotions, are highly sensitive to certain negative emotions of fear and anger. These observations are discussed in the light of hemispheric theory, which accounts for a generalized performance deficit, and social-cognitive theory, which accounts for an emotion-specific deficit in schizophrenia. Archer, J.; Hay, D.C.; and Young, A.W. Movement, face processing and schizophrenia: Evidence of a differential deficit in expression analysis. British Journal of Clinical Psychology 31:517-528, 1994. Asthana, H.S., and Mandal, M.K. Hemiregional variations in facial expression of emotions. British Journal of Psychology 88(Pt. 3):519-525,1997. Berenbaum, H. Posed facial expressions of emotion in schizophrenia and depression. Psychological Medicine, 22:929-937, 1992. Biswas, A.K.; Haque-Nizamie, S.; Pandey, R.; and Mandal, M.K. Bilateral transfer deficit in schizophrenia: A trait marker. Psychiatry Research, 64(2): 115-120, 1996. Borod, J.C. Interhemispheric and intrahemispheric control of emotion: A focus on unilateral brain damage. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60:339-348, 1992. Borod, J.C; Alpert, M.; Brozgold, A.; and Martin, C A preliminary comparison of flat affect schizophrenics and brain-damaged patients on measures of affective processing. Journal of Communication Disorder, 22:93-104, 1989. Borod, J.C, and Koff, E. Lateralization for facial emotional behaviour: A methodological perspective. International Journal of Psychology, 25:157-177,1990. Borod, J.C; Martin, C.C.; Alpert, M.; Brozgold, A.; and Welkowitz, J. Perception of facial emotion in schizophrenics and right brain-damaged patients. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disorders, 181:494-502,1993. Bryden, M.P. Laterality: Hemispheric Specialization in the Intact Brain. New York, NY: Academic Press, 1982. Burch, J.W. Typicality range deficit in schizophrenics' recognition of emotion in faces. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 51:140-150, 1995. Buss, A., and Lang, P. Psychological deficit in schizophrenia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 70:2-24, 1965. Cramer, P.; Weegmann, M.; and O'Neil, M. Schizophrenia and the perception of emotions: How accurately do schizophrenics judge the emotional states of others? British Journal of Psychiatry, 155:225-228, 1989. Cutting, J. Judgment of emotional expression in schizop...

Objective and Subjective Olfaction Across the Schizophrenia Spectrum

“…The schizotypy group reported smells as subjectively less pleasant than controls, indicating that there is a difference for the at-risk group in comparative emotional experience. Interestingly, and consistent with prior studies (see Minor & Cohen, 2010, for a review), patients with schizophrenia do not generally show reduced hedonic experience of olfactory stimuli in the laboratory (Berenbaum, 1992). Thus, there appears to be a discrepancy regarding experience in patients with schizophrenia and those with psychometrically defined schizotypy.…”

Static posed and evoked facial expressions of emotions in schizophrenia

“…Examinations of facial expressions beyond clinical rating scales in schizophrenia have reported on imitative expressions (Putnam and Kring, 2007; Schwartz et al, 2006; Tremeau et al, 2005), deliberate or posed expressions (Berenbaum, 1992; Schwartz et al, 2006; Tremeau et al, 2005), spontaneous expressions within dyadic interactions (Aghevli et al, 2003; Mattes et al, 1995; Schneider et al, 1990; Steimer-Krause et al, 1990), expressions associated with emotional film clips ((Berenbaum and Oltmanns, 1992; Earnst et al, 1996; Kring et al, 1999, 1993) or emotional experiences of the participants (Berenbaum and Oltmanns, 1992; Gottheil et al, 1970; Kring et al, 1993; Tremeau et al, 2005). Media for capturing facial expressions have included still photographs (Gottheil et al, 1976; Schwartz et al, 2006), videotapes (Aghevli et al, 2003; Berenbaum, 1992; Berenbaum and Oltmanns, 1992; Gaebel and Wolwer, 2004; Kring et al, 1993; Putnam and Kring, 2007; Steimer-Krause et al, 1990; Tremeau et al, 2005), and electromyographic recordings (Earnst et al, 1996; Kring et al, 1999; Mattes et al, 1995).…”

“…Media for capturing facial expressions have included still photographs (Gottheil et al, 1976; Schwartz et al, 2006), videotapes (Aghevli et al, 2003; Berenbaum, 1992; Berenbaum and Oltmanns, 1992; Gaebel and Wolwer, 2004; Kring et al, 1993; Putnam and Kring, 2007; Steimer-Krause et al, 1990; Tremeau et al, 2005), and electromyographic recordings (Earnst et al, 1996; Kring et al, 1999; Mattes et al, 1995). Videotaped acquisition offers the advantage of capturing duration and frequency of emotion expressions.…”

Being in the Safety Zone

“…In fact, longitudinal research has shown that as youth move through adolescence, they experience a greater level of negative emotions and report a lower level of happiness than at other points during the life span (Larson et al, 2002). Low levels of positive affect and high negative affect have been associated with poor psychological functioning, general distress and dysfunction, depression, and anxiety (Berenbaum, 1992). Tragically, in dealing with difficult emotions and changing social interactions, a large number of adolescents turn to suicidal behavior as the way to deal with mounting despair.…”