Identifying and describing subtypes of spontaneous empathic facial expression production in autistic adults
Year: 2022
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether atypical patterns of facial expression production metrics in autism reflect the dynamic and nuanced nature of facial expressions across people or a true diagnostic difference. Furthermore, the heterogeneity observed across autism symptomatology suggests a need for more adaptive and personalized social skills programs. Towards this goal, it would be useful to have a more concrete and empirical understanding of the different expressiveness profiles within the autistic population and how they differ from neurotypicals. METHODS: We used automated facial coding and an unsupervised clustering approach to limit inter-individual variability in facial expression production that may have otherwise obscured group differences in previous studies, allowing an "apples-to-apples" comparison between autistic and neurotypical adults. Specifically, we applied k-means clustering to identify subtypes of facial expressiveness in an autism group (N = 27) and a neurotypical control group (N = 57) separately. The two most stable clusters from these analyses were then further characterized and compared based on their expressiveness and emotive congruence to emotionally charged stimuli. RESULTS: Our main finding was that a subset of autistic adults in our sample show heightened spontaneous facial expressions irrespective of image valence. We did not find evidence for greater incongruous (i.e., inappropriate) facial expressions in autism. Finally, we found a negative trend between expressiveness and emotion recognition within the autism group. CONCLUSION: The results from our previous study on self-reported empathy and current expressivity findings point to a higher degree of facial expressions recruited for emotional resonance in autism that may not always be adaptive (e.g., experiencing similar emotional resonance regardless of valence). These findings also build on previous work indicating that facial expression intensity is not diminished in autism and suggest the need for intervention programs to focus on emotion recognition and social skills in the context of both negative and positive emotions.
Institutions: Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,690
Funders: Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, National Institutes of Health, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Awards: Advancing Opportunities for Ped. Research and the Role of CC-CHOC within NCATS, G3958425432, Peripersonal Space Representation as a Basis for Social Deficits in Autism and Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders, Bridging the Internal and External Sensory Worlds in Autism, Overall: Eunice Kennedy Shriver Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center at Vanderbilt, Linking Clinical Translational Science Award Sites to Improve Pediatric Research, G8043452720
OpenAlex ID: W4289277943