Jumping to interpretations: Social anxiety disorder and the identification of emotional facial expressions

2007 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 591-599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Mohlman ◽  
Cheryl N. Carmin ◽  
Rebecca B. Price
Keyword(s):  
Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Social Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions

scholarly journals Abnormal visual representations associated with confusion of perceived facial expression in schizophrenia with social anxiety disorder

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Faghel-Soubeyrand ◽  
Tania Lecomte ◽  
M. Archibaldo Bravo ◽  
Martin Lepage ◽  
Stéphane Potvin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Facial Expression ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Social Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Visual Representations ◽  
Facial Cues ◽  
Spatial Frequencies ◽  
Coarse Information

Abstract Deficits in social functioning are especially severe amongst schizophrenia individuals with the prevalent comorbidity of social anxiety disorder (SZ&SAD). Yet, the mechanisms underlying the recognition of facial expression of emotions—a hallmark of social cognition—are practically unexplored in SZ&SAD. Here, we aim to reveal the visual representations SZ&SAD (n = 16) and controls (n = 14) rely on for facial expression recognition. We ran a total of 30,000 trials of a facial expression categorization task with Bubbles, a data-driven technique. Results showed that SZ&SAD’s ability to categorize facial expression was impared compared to controls. More severe negative symptoms (flat affect, apathy, reduced social drive) was associated with more impaired emotion recognition ability, and with more biases in attributing neutral affect to faces. Higher social anxiety symptoms, on the other hand, was found to enhance the reaction speed to neutral and angry faces. Most importantly, Bubbles showed that these abnormalities could be explained by inefficient visual representations of emotions: compared to controls, SZ&SAD subjects relied less on fine facial cues (high spatial frequencies) and more on coarse facial cues (low spatial frequencies). SZ&SAD participants also never relied on the eye regions (only on the mouth) to categorize facial expressions. We discuss how possible interactions between early (low sensitivity to coarse information) and late stages of the visual system (overreliance on these coarse features) might disrupt SZ&SAD’s recognition of facial expressions. Our findings offer perceptual mechanisms through which comorbid SZ&SAD impairs crucial aspects of social cognition, as well as functional psychopathology.

scholarly journals Facial expressions and eye tracking in individuals with social anxiety disorder: a systematic review

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rianne Gomes e Claudino ◽  
Laysa Karen Soares de Lima ◽  
Erickson Duarte Bonifácio de Assis ◽  
Nelson Torro
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Social Anxiety Disorder

Smiles may go unseen in generalized social anxiety disorder: Evidence from binocular rivalry for reduced visual consciousness of positive facial expressions

2013 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 619-626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric C. Anderson ◽  
M. Taylor Dryman ◽  
John Worthington ◽  
Elizabeth A. Hoge ◽  
Laura E. Fischer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Social Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Binocular Rivalry ◽  
Visual Consciousness

A Neutral Face Is Not Neutral Even if You Have Not Seen It: Social Anxiety Disorder and Affective Priming with Facial Expressions

2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolf-Gero Lange ◽  
Esther Allart ◽  
Ger P.J. Keijsers ◽  
Mike Rinck ◽  
Eni S. Becker
Keyword(s):  
Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Social Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Affective Priming ◽  
Neutral Face

scholarly journals Facial Affect and Interpersonal Affiliation: Displays of Emotion During Relationship Formation in Social Anxiety Disorder

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 826-839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah L. Pearlstein ◽  
Charles T. Taylor ◽  
Murray B. Stein
Keyword(s):  
Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Social Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Facial Affect ◽  
Coding System ◽  
Relationship Formation ◽  
Treatment Target ◽  
Interaction Partners ◽  
Automated Software

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) often involves difficulty developing relationships. Facial expressions are important in relationship formation, but data are limited regarding facial display production among persons with SAD during social interaction. The current study compared facial displays of individuals diagnosed with SAD ( n = 41) to control participants ( n = 24) as they interacted with a confederate; confederates and observers then rated their desire for future interaction with participants. Automated software used the Facial Action Coding System to classify displays. During portions of the interaction that involved listening to partners, the SAD group smiled less frequently and less intensely than controls, and less smiling was associated with others’ lower desire for future interaction with participants. Diminished positive facial affect in response to interaction partners may disrupt relationship formation in SAD and may serve as an effective treatment target.

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