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Facial expression recognition by people with Möbius Syndrome.
Authors:
CALDER, A.J., KEANE, J. Cole, J, Campbell, R. and Young, A.W.
Reference:
Cognitive Neuropsychology: Special Issue: The Cognitive Neuropsychology of Face Recognition, 2000, 17 (1/2/3), 73-87.
Year of publication:
2000
CBU number:
3788
Abstract:
We present an investigation of facial expression recognition by three people (BC, LP and NC) with Möbius syndrome - a congenital disorder producing facial paralysis. The participants were asked to identify the emotion displayed in 10 examples of facial expressions associated with each of six basic emotions from the Ekman and Friesen (1976) series. None of the three people with Möbius syndrome was significantly impaired on this task. On a second test of facial expression recognition using computer-morphed facial expressions, NC showed a statistically significant impairment, BC a borderline deficit, and LP was unimpaired. However, even when impairments were found, people with Möbius syndrome still recognised many of the facial expressions shown to them. The recognition of facial expressions by people who have never been able to produce such signals on their own faces demonstrates that the ability to produce facial expressions is not a necessary prerequisite of their recognition.
