Centre for Behavioural Science and Applied Psychology, Department of Psychology,Sociology & Politics, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK.
Neuro Rehabilitation Outreach Team, Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Trust, Doncaster, UK.
J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 2022 Sep;44(7):461-477. doi: 10.1080/13803395.2022.2128066. Epub 2022 Oct 7.
Diminished social functioning is often seen after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Mechanisms contributing to these deficits are poorly understood but thought to relate to impaired ability to recognize facial expressions. Static stimuli are often used to investigate ability post-TBI, and there is less evidence using more dynamic stimuli. In addition, most studies rely on behavioral responses alone. The present study investigated the performance of a TBI group and matched non-TBI group on static and dynamic tasks using eye-tracking technology alongside behavioral measures. This is the first study to use eye tracking methodology alongside behavioral measures in emotion recognition tasks in people with brain injury. Eighteen individuals with heterogeneous TBI and 18 matched non-TBI participants were recruited. Stimuli representing six core emotions (Anger, Disgust, Fear, Happy, Sad, and Surprise faces) were selected from the Amsterdam Dynamic Facial Expression Set (ADFES). Participants were instructed to identify the emotion displayed correctly whilst eye movement metrics were recorded.
Results of analyses showed that TBI patients had First Fixation to nose for all emotion stimuli, shorter Fixation Duration and lower Fixation Count to eyes, were generally slower to classify stimuli, and less accurate than non-TBI group for the static task. Those with TBI were also less accurate at identifying Angry, Disgust, and Fear stimulus faces compared to the non-TBI group during the dynamic unfolding of an emotion.
In the present study, those with TBI had atypical eye scan patterns during emotion identification in the static emotion recognition task compared to the non-TBI group and were associated with lower identification accuracy on behavioral measures in both static and dynamic tasks. Findings suggest potential disruption to oculomotor systems vital for first stage perceptual processing. Arguably, these impairments may contribute to diminished social functioning.
创伤性脑损伤（TBI）后常出现社会功能减退。导致这些缺陷的机制尚不清楚，但据认为与识别面部表情的能力受损有关。静态刺激物常用于研究 TBI 后的能力，而使用更动态刺激物的证据较少。此外，大多数研究仅依赖于行为反应。本研究使用眼动跟踪技术和行为测量，对 TBI 组和匹配的非 TBI 组在静态和动态任务中的表现进行了研究。这是第一项在脑损伤患者的情绪识别任务中使用眼动跟踪方法和行为测量的研究。招募了 18 名异质性 TBI 患者和 18 名匹配的非 TBI 参与者。从阿姆斯特丹动态面部表情集（ADFES）中选择了代表六种核心情绪（愤怒、厌恶、恐惧、快乐、悲伤和惊喜面孔）的刺激物。要求参与者在识别显示的情绪时正确指导，同时记录眼动测量值。
分析结果表明，TBI 患者对所有情绪刺激物的第一眼注视都在鼻子上，注视时间更短，对眼睛的注视次数也更少，对刺激物的分类速度较慢，在静态任务中的准确性低于非 TBI 组。与非 TBI 组相比，TBI 患者在情绪的动态展开过程中对愤怒、厌恶和恐惧刺激面孔的识别也不太准确。
在本研究中，与非 TBI 组相比，TBI 患者在静态情绪识别任务中识别情绪时的眼扫描模式异常，并且在静态和动态任务中的行为测量中识别准确性较低。研究结果表明，眼球运动系统可能受到了损害，而该系统对于第一阶段的感知处理至关重要。可以说，这些损伤可能导致社会功能减退。
