Section of Affect and Neuroscience, Institute of Behavioral Science in Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. ; Department of Psychiatry, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Severance Mental Health Hospital, Gwangju, Republic of Korea.
Section of Affect and Neuroscience, Institute of Behavioral Science in Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Psychiatry Investig. 2014 Apr;11(2):105-11. doi: 10.4306/pi.2014.11.2.105. Epub 2013 Oct 16.
It was proposed that the ability to recognize facial emotions is closely related to complex neurocognitive processes and/or skills related to theory of mind (ToM). This study examines whether ToM skills mediate the relationship between higher neurocognitive functions, such as reasoning ability, and facial emotion recognition.
A total of 200 healthy subjects (101 males, 99 females) were recruited. Facial emotion recognition was measured through the use of 64 facial emotional stimuli that were selected from photographs from the Korean Facial Expressions of Emotion (KOFEE). Participants were requested to complete the Theory of Mind Picture Stories task and Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM).
Multiple regression analysis showed that the SPM score (t=3.19, p=0.002, β=0.22) and the overall ToM score (t=2.56, p=0.011, β=0.18) were primarily associated with a total hit rate (%) of the emotion recognition task. Hierarchical regression analysis through a three-step mediation model showed that ToM may partially mediate the relationship between SPM and performance on facial emotion recognition.
These findings imply that higher neurocognitive functioning, inclusive of reasoning, may not only directly contribute towards facial emotion recognition but also influence ToM, which in turn, influences facial emotion recognition. These findings are particularly true for healthy young people.
人们提出，识别面部情绪的能力与复杂的神经认知过程和/或与心理理论（ToM）相关的技能密切相关。本研究检验了 ToM 技能是否在更高的神经认知功能（如推理能力）与面部情绪识别之间的关系中起中介作用。
共招募了 200 名健康受试者（101 名男性，99 名女性）。通过使用从韩国面部表情情感（KOFEE）照片中选择的 64 张面部情感刺激来测量面部情感识别。要求参与者完成心理理论图片故事任务和标准渐进矩阵（SPM）。
多元回归分析显示，SPM 分数（t=3.19，p=0.002，β=0.22）和整体 ToM 分数（t=2.56，p=0.011，β=0.18）与情绪识别任务的总命中率（%）呈正相关。通过三步中介模型的分层回归分析表明，ToM 可能部分中介了 SPM 与面部情绪识别表现之间的关系。
这些发现意味着更高的神经认知功能，包括推理，不仅可以直接促进面部情绪识别，还可以影响 ToM，进而影响面部情绪识别。这些发现对于健康的年轻人尤为如此。
