Facial Mimicry as a Method to Diagnose Depression
Facial expression mimicry (FEM) is the act of “mirroring” the emotional facial expression of others when interacting with them. FEM is a common process that allows people to share and understand emotions, playing an important role in interpreting socio-emotional cues. There are two different types of FEM: spontaneous and voluntary. Spontaneous facial expression mimicry (SFEM) is unconscious facial expression mirroring, whereas voluntary facial expression mimicry (VFEM) is the conscious mirroring of other’s facial expressions. SFEM is attributed to the connection between behavior and perception while VFEM is a form of social learning and important for social interaction. SFEM and VFEM may be impaired in people with certain disorders. In existing studies, people with autism show decreased SFEM but intact VFEM and those with Parkinson’s show decreased FEM overall. Similarly, according to the World Health Organization, depression is one of the main causes of disability worldwide and has been linked to deficits in facial expression mimicry.
A 2023 study investigated the possible impact of voluntary facial expression mimicry in patients with depression (and its relation to its severity) to use as a diagnostic tool to distinguish people with depression and people without it. The study recruited 168 participants (84 patients with depression, and 84 controls) with similar age, gender, marital status, and ethnicity. The study conducted two experiments: the first was a VFEM task where participants viewed images of seven emotions (six universal emotions and one neutral expression) in a sequence and were asked to imitate the expressions in the images. The researchers used a camera to take a picture of the participants’ mimicked facial expressions to be used in the second experiment. The second experiment was a facial expression recognition (FER) task where images were presented one at a time to nine health raters. The raters were asked to identify the emotions from the following choices: anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise, and neutrality.
A 2023 study investigated the possible impact of voluntary facial expression mimicry in patients with depression (and its relation to its severity) to use as a diagnostic tool to distinguish people with depression and people without it. The study recruited 168 participants (84 patients with depression, and 84 controls) with similar age, gender, marital status, and ethnicity. The study conducted two experiments: the first was a VFEM task where participants viewed images of seven emotions (six universal emotions and one neutral expression) in a sequence and were asked to imitate the expressions in the images. The researchers used a camera to take a picture of the participants’ mimicked facial expressions to be used in the second experiment. The second experiment was a facial expression recognition (FER) task where images were presented one at a time to nine health raters. The raters were asked to identify the emotions from the following choices: anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise, and neutrality.
Image Source: Lilyapps123
The results of the study showed no significant differences between gender, age, education, or marital status. However, there was a significant difference between depressed and non-depressed patients. Data showed the depression group had higher scores in neutrality and the control group had higher happiness scores, where the higher the score, the stronger the ability to imitate the expression. Patients with depression had reduced facial movement or positive reactions when imitating sadness and surprise, and therefore had a higher neutrality bias when imitating sadness, surprise, disgust, and happiness. This means that their facial expressions were more likely to be rated as neutral no matter what expression they were trying to imitate. Additionally, it took longer for the raters to recognize happy expressions in the depression group than control group, meaning happiness in depressed patients was less recognizable. The accuracy of participants in mirroring happiness was affected by their depression, and as the severity of depression increased, neutrality bias also increased.
The main findings of the study revealed that patients with depression had less accuracy in imitating happiness and that severe depression manifested in decreased accuracy and recognizability of facial expressions. Other existing studies show that negative processing bias, where negative events have more of an impact on one’s psychological state than positive events, plays an important role in development of depressive symptoms. Participants in a sad mood will hardly imitate facial expressions and show fewer facial reactions overall.
Although more research must be done to further understand the link between depression and emotional processing patterns, this study produced a stable method for diagnosing depression as it found differences in facial expression mimicry between patients with depression and controls without depression.
The main findings of the study revealed that patients with depression had less accuracy in imitating happiness and that severe depression manifested in decreased accuracy and recognizability of facial expressions. Other existing studies show that negative processing bias, where negative events have more of an impact on one’s psychological state than positive events, plays an important role in development of depressive symptoms. Participants in a sad mood will hardly imitate facial expressions and show fewer facial reactions overall.
Although more research must be done to further understand the link between depression and emotional processing patterns, this study produced a stable method for diagnosing depression as it found differences in facial expression mimicry between patients with depression and controls without depression.
Featured Image Source: Cory J. Campbell
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