Dept. of Neuroscience, Section of Physiology, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
PLoS One. 2013 Apr 10;8(4):e61004. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0061004. Print 2013.
Facial expression of emotions is a powerful vehicle for communicating information about others' emotional states and it normally induces facial mimicry in the observers. The aim of this study was to investigate if early aversive experiences could interfere with emotion recognition, facial mimicry, and with the autonomic regulation of social behaviors. We conducted a facial emotion recognition task in a group of "street-boys" and in an age-matched control group. We recorded facial electromyography (EMG), a marker of facial mimicry, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), an index of the recruitment of autonomic system promoting social behaviors and predisposition, in response to the observation of facial expressions of emotions. Results showed an over-attribution of anger, and reduced EMG responses during the observation of both positive and negative expressions only among street-boys. Street-boys also showed lower RSA after observation of facial expressions and ineffective RSA suppression during presentation of non-threatening expressions. Our findings suggest that early aversive experiences alter not only emotion recognition but also facial mimicry of emotions. These deficits affect the autonomic regulation of social behaviors inducing lower social predisposition after the visualization of facial expressions and an ineffective recruitment of defensive behavior in response to non-threatening expressions.
情绪的面部表达是一种强大的信息传递工具，它可以向观察者传达他人情绪状态的信息，并通常会引起观察者的面部模仿。本研究旨在探讨早期的厌恶体验是否会干扰情绪识别、面部模仿以及社会行为的自主调节。我们在一群“街头男孩”和年龄匹配的对照组中进行了面部情绪识别任务。我们记录了面部肌电图（EMG），这是面部模仿的标志，以及呼吸窦性心律失常（RSA），这是促进社会行为和倾向的自主神经系统募集的指标，以响应观察情绪的面部表情。结果表明，只有在街头男孩中，对愤怒的过度归因和对积极和消极表情观察时的 EMG 反应减少。街头男孩在观察面部表情后也表现出较低的 RSA，并且在呈现非威胁性表情时 RSA 抑制无效。我们的研究结果表明，早期的厌恶体验不仅会改变情绪识别，还会改变对情绪的面部模仿。这些缺陷会影响社会行为的自主调节，导致在观察面部表情后社会倾向降低，并且在面对非威胁性表情时无法有效调动防御行为。
