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Objectives: The aim of our study was to assess the differences in facial emotional recognition (FER) between patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP), patients with multi-episode schizophrenia (SCH), and healthy controls (HC) and to find possible correlations of FER with psychopathology in the two patient groups. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study enrolling 160 patients from two psychiatric hospitals in Croatia (80 FEP and 80 SCH) and 80 HC during the period from October 2015 until October 2017. Patients were assessed once during their hospital treatment, using the Penn Emotion Recognition Task for assessment of FER, rating scales for psychopathology and depression and self-reporting questionnaires for impulsiveness, aggression, and quality of life. Results: The number of correctly identified emotions significantly decreased from HC to FEP [Δ −7%; 95% confidence interval (CI) [−12% to −3%], effect size r = 0.30] and more markedly in SCH (Δ −15%; 95% CI [−25% to −10%], effect size r = 0.59) after the adjustment for age and gender and correction for multiple testing. Correct FER for negative emotions, but not for happiness and neutral emotions, had a statistically significant negative correlation with some features on the scales of psychopathology, impulsivity and aggression in both patient groups. Conclusions: Impairment of FER is present from the first episode of schizophrenia and increases further with multiple psychotic episodes, but it may depend on or contribute to clinical symptoms. Therefore, assessment of FER should be included in the clinical assessment and integrated in the plan of treatment from the beginning of the illness. (JINS, 2019, 25, 165–173)

The growth of crime rates are on the increase all over the world and Nigeria is not an exception. Crime the intentional illegal action committed by any person for which such a person can punish by law does not have a definite cause but rather combination of causes which may include: economic situation, social environment, personality traits, and family structures. This study investigates if socioeconomic wellbeing has a mediating effect on relationship between facial emotional recognition and the tendency to commit crime among hospital workers in Imo state. A total of 150 (75 males and 75 females) workers, were randomly selected to participate in this study. Three instruments were used in this study which includes: Criminal Behaviour Rating Scale (CBRS) developed by Animasahun (2011), Socio-economic wellbeing scale developed by Obi-Nwosu (2018) and Facial emotion scale developed by Paul Ekman.

Objective: No research has been conducted on facial emotional recognition on patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and schizotypal personality disorder (SPD). The present study aimed at comparing facial emotion recognition in these patients with the general population. The neurocognitive processing of emotions can show the pathologic style of these 2 disorders. Method: Twenty BPD patients, 16 SPD patients, and 20 healthy individuals were selected by available sampling method. Structural Clinical Interview for Axis II, Millon Personality Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory and Facial Emotional Recognition Test was were conducted for all participants. Discussion: The results of one way ANOVA and Scheffe’s post hoc test analysis revealed significant differences in neuropsychology assessment of facial emotional recognition between BPD and SPD patients with normal group (p = 0/001). A significant difference was found in emotion recognition of fear between the 2 groups of BPD and normal population (p = 0/008). A significant difference was observed between SPD patients and control group in emotion recognition of wonder (p = 0/04(. The obtained results indicated a deficit in negative emotion recognition, especially disgust emotion, thus, it can be concluded that these patients have the same neurocognitive profile in the emotion domain.

Facial expressions can be verbal, and nonverbal, which play an important part of communication. We can convey a message to another person by means of an expression. Automatic recognition of facial expressions through machines can be developed using natural human interfaces. Although, we know that humans can recognize the expression of a person quickly by looking at the person but recognition of expression using a machine is difficult. This paper presents an overview of automatic expression recognition including the expressions of persons who are mentally ill, retarded, etc. It highlights the components of a system and provides research challenges. By definition, the appearance of a face is the facial component in outward appearance acknowledgment. This paper also helps to recognize the emotions of mentally ill people including children.

The integration of visual features is important for recognizing objects as a coherent whole, a key domain of difficulty in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We tested the hypothesis that ASD patients exhibit difficulties in facial emotional recognition via perceptual binding difficulties due to weak coherence. We assessed 18 ASD and 27 typically developing individuals for their ability to identify emotional expressions from faces in pictures moving behind a narrow vertical and horizontal slit. In this task, only a single local piece of facial information was provided at any one time through the slit. Using a voxel-based analysis of neurite-orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI), we examined the relationship between NODDI index values at each voxel and the behavioral performance of ASD patients in the slit-viewing paradigm. ASD patients demonstrated impaired recognition of facial emotional expression only in horizontal slit-viewing. This deficit was associated with deficits in communication ability. Voxel-based analysis revealed significant negative correlations between behavioral deficits in horizontal slit-viewing and NODDI index values in clusters including the ventral occipital complex region, superior temporal/parietal association areas, and forceps major of the corpus callosum. Our results indicated deficits for the first time in perceptual integration of facial expression across hemispheres in ASD patients due to microstructural disturbances in the corpus callosum and areas related to viewing of the human face. This may underscore the difficulties faced by ASD patients in understanding the emotions of other people, contributing to impairments in communication ability in ASD patients. Autism Res 2020, 13: 729-740. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: We assessed ASD and typically developing individuals for their ability to identify emotional expressions from faces in pictures moving behind a narrow vertical and horizontal slit. ASD patients demonstrated impaired recognition of facial emotional expression only in horizontal slit-viewing. Voxel-based analysis revealed significant negative correlations between behavioral deficits and NODDI index values in clusters including the corpus callosum. Our results indicated deficits in perceptual integration of facial expression across hemispheres in ASD patients potentially resulting from microstructural disturbances.

Background: According to the mother's key roles in bringing up emotional and cognitive abilities of mentally retarded children and respect to positive psychology in recent decades, this research is administered to assess the relation between mother's happiness level with cognitive- executive functions (i.e. attention, working memory, inhibition and planning) and facial emotional recognition ability as two factors in learning and adjustment skills in mentally retarded children with Down syndrome. Methods: This study was an applied research and data were analyzed by Pearson correlation procedure. Population is included all school children with Down syndrome (9-12 yr) that come from Tehran, Iran. Overall, 30 children were selected as an in access sample. After selection and agreement of parents, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for ChildrenRevised (WISC-R) was performed to determine the student's IQ, and then mothers were invited to fill out the Oxford Happiness Inventory (OHI). Cognitive-executive functions were evaluated by tests as followed: Continues Performance Test (CPT), N-Back, Stroop test (day and night version) and Tower of London. Ekman emotion facial expression test was also accomplished for assessing facial emotional recognition in children with Down syndrome, individually. Results: Mother's happiness level had a positive relation with cognitive-executive functions (attention, working memory, inhibition and planning) and facial emotional recognition in her children with Down syndrome, significantly. Conclusion: Parents’ happiness (especially mothers) is a powerful predictor for cognitive and emotional abilities of their children.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder which challenges the population due to its uncertainty in prediction of the disease. It is a progressive disorder of the nervous system marked by tremor, muscular rigidity and slow, imprecise movement, chiefly affecting middle-aged and elderly people. In our proposed work, we utilize the facial emotions of PD patients and normal person to identify their facial emotions like sad, happy, anger, and depression. For this predictive analysis, the datasets are acquired from Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) which consists of 188 PD patients and 50 normal people for testing and training process. By utilize this dataset, we applying the CNN architecture of Alex Net, and Vgg 16 to achieve their performance in terms of accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, F1 score and area under curve. Finally, it proven that Vgg 16 gives 10% more accurate results than Alex Net. This research outcome will be very useful in diagnosis of early-stage Parkinson’s disease in healthcare.

BACKGROUND: Significant deficits in emotional recognition and social perception characterize patients with schizophrenia and have direct negative impact both in inter-personal relationships and in social functioning. Virtual reality, as a methodological resource, might have a high potential for assessment and training skills in people suffering from mental illness. OBJECTIVES: To present preliminary results of a facial emotional recognition assessment designed for patients with schizophrenia, using 3D avatars and virtual reality. METHODS: Presentation of 3D avatars which reproduce images developed with the FaceGen® software and integrated in a three-dimensional virtual environment. Each avatar was presented to a group of 12 patients with schizophrenia and a reference group of 12 subjects without psychiatric pathology. RESULTS: The results show that the facial emotions of happiness and anger are better recognized by both groups and that the major difficulties arise in fear and disgust recognition. Frontal alpha electroencephalography variations were found during the presentation of anger and disgust stimuli among patients with schizophrenia. DISCUSSION: The developed program evaluation module can be of surplus value both for patient and therapist, providing the task execution in a non anxiogenic environment, however similar to the actual experience., CONTEXTO: Pessoas diagnosticadas com esquizofrenia apresentam um défice significativo na cognição social com implicações negativas relativamente ao funcionamento interpessoal e social. A realidade virtual apresenta grandes potencialidades para a avaliação e o treino de competências em pessoas com doença mental. OBJETIVOS: Apresentar os resultados preliminares de um programa construído para avaliação do reconhecimento emocional de faces por pessoas com esquizofrenia, utilizando avatares 3D e realidade virtual. MÉTODOS: Apresentação de avatares 3D que reproduzem expressões emocionais, construídas por meio do FaceGen® e integradas num ambiente virtual tridimensional. Apresentou-se cada avatar a 12 doentes com esquizofrenia e a 12 pessoas sem patologia psiquiátrica, avaliando as respostas de reconhecimento e a atividade eletroencefalográfica frontal. RESULTADOS: Os resultados demonstraram que as expressões de alegria e raiva foram as mais bem reconhecidas pelos dois grupos, enquanto de medo e nojo foram as de maior dificuldade. Verificaram-se alterações na atividade alfa frontal para os estímulos raiva e nojo na amostra de doentes com esquizofrenia. CONCLUSÃO: Apesar de algumas expressões emocionais poderem ser melhoradas, o programa desenvolvido pode constituir uma mais-valia para o paciente e para o terapeuta, proporcionando a execução da tarefa em condições não ansiogênicas e aproximadas à experiência real.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Emotional recognition seems to be an important component of our nonverbal communication system, essential for adaptation and effectiveness in interpersonal relationships. Different theorists have proposed that individuals with different psychopathologies, particularly in both mood and social anxiety disorders, would present selective attention to emotionally negative facial stimuli (eg, anger, fear, sadness), being less sensitive to positive ones (eg, cheerful faces). The present study aimed to investigate the identification of emotional faces (particularly joy, anger, fear, sadness and neutrality); the study addresses individuals with social anxiety, comparing their performance of identifying emotions with other participants who do not have this particular disorder. Nineteen undergraduate students with social anxiety (six) and without (19) participated. The designation of the participants in the groups depended on a psych diagnostic evaluation, implemented in Phase 1 by psychologists in trainees, under the supervision of the counselor. During the evaluation, the following instruments were applied: 1) PROMIS-Level 1; 2) PROMIS - Level 2 anxiety; 3) Liebowitz Social Phobia Scale. For both groups, a single experimental computerized experimental session was implemented and controlled by computer. Twenty (20) visual stimuli in the form of faces with emotional expressions were used during the session: five different facial expressions of emotion (joy, sadness, anger, fear and neutral) with four different actors. 120 experimental attempts provided three different tasks of conditional discrimination, namely: 1) Appointment (indicate the correct naming of a facial expression, 20 attempts); 2) Identification with four 4 photos that would best be described by the emotion available in the model; 20 attempts. In the last 80 attempts, the participant should identify facial expression by comparing two distinct faces of emotions; the negative comparison stimulus could be lighthearted or neutral. The results seem to indicate that individuals with social anxiety seem to respond promptly to fear. Some considerations were examined with reference to the relation between 1) number of care disorders and the effect on accuracy and latency; and, 2) some methodological conditions to be addressed in future research. O reconhecimento de emoções parece ser um componente importante de nosso sistema de comunicação não-verbal, essencial para adaptação e efetividade nas relações interpessoais. Diferente teórico tem proposto que indivíduos com psicopatologias distintas, particularmente nos transtornos do humor e da ansiedade social, apresentariam uma atenção seletiva a estímulos faciais emocionalmente negativos (ex. raiva, medo, tristeza), sendo pouco sensíveis àqueles positivos (ex. rostos alegres). O presente trabalho teve como objetivo investigar a identificação de faces emocionais (particularmente alegria, raiva, medo, tristeza e neutra), em indivíduos com ansiedade social, comparando o seu desempenho de identificação de emoções com outros participantes que não são portadores deste transtorno. Participaram 19 estudantes universitários com ansiedade social (seis) ou sem (19). A designação dos participantes nos grupos dependeu de uma avaliação psicodiagnóstica implementada na Fase 1 por estagiários de psicologia, sob supervisão da orientadora. Durante a avaliação foram aplicados os seguintes instrumentos: 1) PROMIS–Nível 1; 2) PROMIS – Nível 2 de ansiedade; 3) Escala de Fobia Social de Liebowitz. Para ambos os grupos foi implementada uma única sessão experimental informatizada, programada e controlada por computador. Vinte (20) estímulos visuais na forma de faces com expressões emocionais foram utilizados durante a sessão: cinco diferentes expressões faciais de emoção (alegria, tristeza, raiva, medo e neutra), com quatro atores distintos. 120 tentativas experimentais disponibilizaram três diferentes tarefas de discriminação condicional, a saber: 1) Nomeação (indicar a correta nomeação de uma expressão facial; 20 tentativas); 2) Identificação com quatro 4 fotos aquela que melhor seria descrita pela emoção disponibilizada no modelo; 20 tentativas. Nas 80 últimas tentativas, o participante devia identificar a expressão facial comparando duas faces distintas de emoções; o estímulo comparação negativo poderia ser alegre ou neutro. Os resultados parecem apontar que indivíduos com ansiedade social parecem responder prontamente ao medo. Algumas considerações foram examinadas com referência a relação entre 1) número de transtornos de cuidado e o efeito sobre acurácia e latência; e, 2) algumas condições metodológicas a serem tratadas em pesquisas futuras. CAPES: ; 37325719809

Face recognition of basic emotions is independent of other deficits in dementia of the Alzheimer type. Among these deficits, there is disagreement about what emotions are more difficult to recognize. Our aim was to study the presence of alterations in the process of facial recognition of basic emotions, and to investigate if there were differences in the recognition of each type of emotion in Alzheimer's disease. With three tests of recognition of basic facial emotions we evaluated 29 patients who had been diagnosed with dementia of the Alzheimer type and 18 control subjects. Significant differences were obtained in tests of recognition of basic facial emotions and between each. Since the amygdala, one of the brain structures responsible for emotional reaction, is affected in the early stages of this disease, our findings become relevant to understand how this alteration of the process of emotional recognition impacts the difficulties these patients have in both interpersonal relations and behavioral disorders.

CONTEXTO: Pessoas diagnosticadas com esquizofrenia apresentam um défice significativo na cognição social com implicações negativas relativamente ao funcionamento interpessoal e social. A realidade virtual apresenta grandes potencialidades para a avaliação e o treino de competências em pessoas com doença mental. OBJETIVOS: Apresentar os resultados preliminares de um programa construído para avaliação do reconhecimento emocional de faces por pessoas com esquizofrenia, utilizando avatares 3D e realidade virtual. MÉTODOS: Apresentação de avatares 3D que reproduzem expressões emocionais, construídas por meio do FaceGen® e integradas num ambiente virtual tridimensional. Apresentou-se cada avatar a 12 doentes com esquizofrenia e a 12 pessoas sem patologia psiquiátrica, avaliando as respostas de reconhecimento e a atividade eletroencefalográfica frontal. RESULTADOS: Os resultados demonstraram que as expressões de alegria e raiva foram as mais bem reconhecidas pelos dois grupos, enquanto de medo e nojo foram as de maior dificuldade. Verificaram-se alterações na atividade alfa frontal para os estímulos raiva e nojo na amostra de doentes com esquizofrenia. CONCLUSÃO: Apesar de algumas expressões emocionais poderem ser melhoradas, o programa desenvolvido pode constituir uma mais-valia para o paciente e para o terapeuta, proporcionando a execução da tarefa em condições não ansiogênicas e aproximadas à experiência real. BACKGROUND: Significant deficits in emotional recognition and social perception characterize patients with schizophrenia and have direct negative impact both in inter-personal relationships and in social functioning. Virtual reality, as a methodological resource, might have a high potential for assessment and training skills in people suffering from mental illness. OBJECTIVES: To present preliminary results of a facial emotional recognition assessment designed for patients with schizophrenia, using 3D avatars and virtual reality. METHODS: Presentation of 3D avatars which reproduce images developed with the FaceGen® software and integrated in a three-dimensional virtual environment. Each avatar was presented to a group of 12 patients with schizophrenia and a reference group of 12 subjects without psychiatric pathology. RESULTS: The results show that the facial emotions of happiness and anger are better recognized by both groups and that the major difficulties arise in fear and disgust recognition. Frontal alpha electroencephalography variations were found during the presentation of anger and disgust stimuli among patients with schizophrenia. DISCUSSION: The developed program evaluation module can be of surplus value both for patient and therapist, providing the task execution in a non anxiogenic environment, however similar to the actual experience.