Wu Qi, Xie Yanni, Liu Xuanchen, Liu Yulong
Department of Psychology, School of Educational Science, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China.
Cognition and Human Behavior Key Laboratory of Hunan Province, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China.
Front Psychol. 2022 Jun 29;13:947418. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.947418. eCollection 2022.
As fleeting facial expressions which reveal the emotion that a person tries to conceal, micro-expressions have great application potentials for fields like security, national defense and medical treatment. However, the physiological basis for the recognition of these facial expressions is poorly understood. In the present research, we utilized a double-blind, placebo-controlled, mixed-model experimental design to investigate the effects of oxytocin on the recognition of micro-expressions in three behavioral studies. Specifically, in Studies 1 and 2, participants were asked to perform a laboratory-based standardized micro-expression recognition task after self-administration of a single dose of intranasal oxytocin (40 IU) or placebo (containing all ingredients except for the neuropeptide). In Study 3, we further examined the effects of oxytocin on the recognition of natural micro-expressions. The results showed that intranasal oxytocin decreased the recognition speed for standardized intense micro-expressions of surprise (Study 1) and decreased the recognition accuracy for standardized subtle micro-expressions of disgust (Study 2). The results of Study 3 further revealed that intranasal oxytocin administration significantly reduced the recognition accuracy for natural micro-expressions of surprise and disgust. The present research is the first to investigate the effects of oxytocin on micro-expression recognition. It suggests that the oxytocin mainly plays an inhibiting role in the recognition of micro-expressions and there are fundamental differences in the neurophysiological basis for the recognition of micro-expressions and macro-expressions.
微表情作为瞬间闪现的面部表情，揭示了一个人试图隐藏的情绪，在安全、国防和医疗等领域具有巨大的应用潜力。然而，人们对识别这些面部表情的生理基础了解甚少。在本研究中，我们采用双盲、安慰剂对照、混合模型实验设计，在三项行为研究中探究了催产素对微表情识别的影响。具体而言，在研究1和研究2中，参与者在自行鼻内注射单剂量催产素（40国际单位）或安慰剂（含有除神经肽外的所有成分）后，被要求执行基于实验室的标准化微表情识别任务。在研究3中，我们进一步考察了催产素对自然微表情识别的影响。结果表明，鼻内注射催产素降低了对标准化强烈惊讶微表情的识别速度（研究1），并降低了对标准化微妙厌恶微表情的识别准确率（研究2）。研究3的结果进一步表明，鼻内注射催产素显著降低了对自然惊讶和厌恶微表情的识别准确率。本研究首次探究了催产素对微表情识别的影响。研究表明，催产素在微表情识别中主要起抑制作用，且微表情和宏观表情识别的神经生理基础存在根本差异。
