School of Psychology, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK.
J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 2012;34(4):385-95. doi: 10.1080/13803395.2011.645019. Epub 2012 Jan 20.
The human face is a powerful elicitor of emotion, which induces autonomic nervous system responses. In this study, we explored physiological arousal and reactivity to affective facial displays shown in person and through video-mediated communication. We compared measures of physiological arousal and reactivity in typically developing individuals and those with the developmental disorders Williams syndrome (WS) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Participants attended to facial displays of happy, sad, and neutral expressions via live and video-mediated communication. Skin conductance level (SCL) indicated that live faces, but not video-mediated faces, increased arousal, especially for typically developing individuals and those with WS. There was less increase of SCL, and physiological reactivity was comparable for live and video-mediated faces in ASD. In typical development and WS, physiological reactivity was greater for live than for video-mediated communication. Individuals with WS showed lower SCL than typically developing individuals, suggesting possible hypoarousal in this group, even though they showed an increase in arousal for faces. The results are discussed in terms of the use of video-mediated communication with typically and atypically developing individuals and atypicalities of physiological arousal across neurodevelopmental disorder groups.
人脸是情感的有力诱发因素，它会引起自主神经系统的反应。在这项研究中，我们探索了生理唤醒和对情感面部表情的反应，这些表情是通过面对面和通过视频介导的交流展示的。我们比较了典型发育个体以及患有威廉姆斯综合征（WS）和自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的个体的生理唤醒和反应的测量值。参与者通过面对面和视频介导的交流来关注快乐、悲伤和中性表情的面部表情。皮肤电导水平（SCL）表明，活体面孔而非视频介导的面孔会增加唤醒，尤其是对于典型发育的个体和患有 WS 的个体。对于 ASD 个体，SCL 的增加较少，生理反应对于活体和视频介导的面孔是可比的。在典型发育和 WS 中，活体比视频介导的交流更能引起生理反应。与典型发育的个体相比，患有 WS 的个体的 SCL 较低，这表明该群体可能存在低唤醒，尽管他们的面部唤醒有所增加。结果从使用视频介导的交流与典型和非典型发育个体以及神经发育障碍群体的生理唤醒异常的角度进行了讨论。
