Belluardo Mauro, De Stefani Elisa, Barbot Anna, Bianchi Bernardo, Zannoni Cecilia, Ferrari Alberto, Rayson Holly, Di Nuovo Santo, Belluardo Giovanni, Sessa Paola, Ferrari Pier Francesco
Unit of Neuroscience, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, 43125 Parma, Italy.
Unit of Paediatric Neuropsychiatry, Reggio Emilia Hospital, 42019 Scandiano, Italy.
Brain Sci. 2022 Apr 19;12(5):516. doi: 10.3390/brainsci12050516.
Temporal dynamics of behavior, particularly facial expressions, are fundamental for communication between individuals from very early in development. Facial expression processing has been widely demonstrated to involve embodied simulative processes mediated by the motor system. Such processes may be impaired in patients with congenital facial palsy, including those affected by Moebius syndrome (MBS). The aims of this study were to investigate (a) the role of motor mechanisms in the processing of dynamic facial expression timing by testing patients affected by congenital facial palsy and (b) age-dependent effects on such processing. Accordingly, we recruited 38 typically developing individuals and 15 individuals with MBS, ranging in age from childhood to adulthood. We used a time comparison task where participants were asked to identify which one of two dynamic facial expressions was faster. Results showed that MBS individuals performed worse than controls in correctly estimating the duration of facial expressions. Interestingly, we did not find any performance differences in relation to age. These findings provide further evidence for the involvement of the motor system in processing facial expression duration and suggest that a sensorimotor matching mechanism may contribute to such timing perception from childhood.
行为的时间动态，尤其是面部表情，从发育早期开始对于个体之间的交流就至关重要。面部表情处理已被广泛证明涉及由运动系统介导的具身模拟过程。在先天性面瘫患者中，包括那些受默比乌斯综合征（MBS）影响的患者，此类过程可能会受损。本研究的目的是：（a）通过测试先天性面瘫患者来研究运动机制在动态面部表情时间处理中的作用；（b）研究年龄对此类处理的影响。因此，我们招募了38名发育正常的个体和15名患有MBS的个体，年龄范围从儿童到成人。我们使用了一个时间比较任务，要求参与者识别两个动态面部表情中哪一个更快。结果表明，MBS个体在正确估计面部表情持续时间方面比对照组表现更差。有趣的是，我们没有发现与年龄相关的任何表现差异。这些发现为运动系统参与处理面部表情持续时间提供了进一步的证据，并表明感觉运动匹配机制可能从儿童期就有助于这种时间感知。
