Title |
Neural Correlates of Facial Mimicry: Simultaneous Measurements of EMG and BOLD Responses during Perception of Dynamic Compared to Static Facial Expressions
|
---|---|
Published in |
Frontiers in Psychology, February 2018
|
DOI | 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00052 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Krystyna Rymarczyk, Łukasz Żurawski, Kamila Jankowiak-Siuda, Iwona Szatkowska |
Abstract |
Facial mimicry (FM) is an automatic response to imitate the facial expressions of others. However, neural correlates of the phenomenon are as yet not well established. We investigated this issue using simultaneously recorded EMG and BOLD signals during perception of dynamic and static emotional facial expressions of happiness and anger. During display presentations, BOLD signals and zygomaticus major (ZM), corrugator supercilii (CS) and orbicularis oculi (OO) EMG responses were recorded simultaneously from 46 healthy individuals. Subjects reacted spontaneously to happy facial expressions with increased EMG activity in ZM and OO muscles and decreased CS activity, which was interpreted as FM. Facial muscle responses correlated with BOLD activity in regions associated with motor simulation of facial expressions [i.e., inferior frontal gyrus, a classical Mirror Neuron System (MNS)]. Further, we also found correlations for regions associated with emotional processing (i.e., insula, part of the extended MNS). It is concluded that FM involves both motor and emotional brain structures, especially during perception of natural emotional expressions. |
X Demographics
As of 1 July 2024, you may notice a temporary increase in the numbers of X profiles with Unknown location. Click here to learn more.
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 2 | 10% |
United Kingdom | 2 | 10% |
Switzerland | 2 | 10% |
Canada | 2 | 10% |
France | 1 | 5% |
Australia | 1 | 5% |
Germany | 1 | 5% |
Unknown | 10 | 48% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 10 | 48% |
Scientists | 7 | 33% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 2 | 10% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 2 | 10% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Unknown | 103 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Ph. D. Student | 20 | 19% |
Student > Master | 11 | 11% |
Researcher | 10 | 10% |
Student > Bachelor | 10 | 10% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 7 | 7% |
Other | 17 | 17% |
Unknown | 28 | 27% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Psychology | 39 | 38% |
Neuroscience | 18 | 17% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 3 | 3% |
Social Sciences | 2 | 2% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 2 | 2% |
Other | 6 | 6% |
Unknown | 33 | 32% |