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Suslow T, Kersting A, Bodenschatz CM. Dimensions of Alexithymia and Identification of Emotions in Masked and Unmasked Faces. Behav Sci (Basel) 2024; 14:692. [PMID: 39199088 PMCID: PMC11351596 DOI: 10.3390/bs14080692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2024] [Revised: 07/19/2024] [Accepted: 08/05/2024] [Indexed: 09/01/2024] Open
Abstract
Alexithymia, a multifaceted personality construct, is known to be related to difficulties in the decoding of emotional facial expressions, especially in case of suboptimal stimuli. The present study investigated whether and which facets of alexithymia are related to impairments in the recognition of emotions in faces with face masks. Accuracy and speed of emotion recognition were examined in a block of faces with and a block of faces without face masks in a sample of 102 healthy individuals. The order of blocks varied between participants. Emotions were recognized better and faster in unmasked than in masked faces. Recognition performance was worst and slowest for participants starting the task with masked faces. In the whole sample, there were no correlations of alexithymia facets with accuracy and speed of emotion recognition for masked and unmasked faces. In participants starting the task with masked faces, the facet externally oriented thinking was positively correlated with reaction latencies of correct responses for masked faces. Our findings indicate that an externally oriented thinking style could be linked to a less efficient identification of emotions from faces wearing masks when task difficulty is high and support the utility of a facet approach in alexithymia research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Suslow
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Leipzig Medical Center, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; (A.K.); (C.M.B.)
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Gori M, Schiatti L, Faggioni M, Amadeo MB. Lesson learned from the COVID-19 pandemic: toddlers learn earlier to read emotions with face masks. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1386937. [PMID: 39021660 PMCID: PMC11253214 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1386937] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2024] [Accepted: 06/03/2024] [Indexed: 07/20/2024] Open
Abstract
In a prior study we demonstrated that the presence of face masks impairs the human capability of accurately inferring emotions conveyed through facial expressions, at all ages. The degree of impairment posed by face covering was notably more pronounced in children aged between three and five years old. In the current study, we conducted the same test as a follow-up after one year from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the requirement of wearing face masks was holding in almost all circumstances of everyday life when social interactions occur. The results indicate a noteworthy improvement in recognizing facial expressions with face masks among children aged three to five, compared to the pre-pandemic settings. These findings hold a significant importance, suggesting that toddlers effectively mitigated the social challenges associated with masks use: they overcame initial environmental limitations, improving their capability to interpret facial expressions even in the absence of visual cues from the lower part of the face.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monica Gori
- Unit for Visually Impaired People (U-VIP), Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy
| | - Lucia Schiatti
- Unit for Visually Impaired People (U-VIP), Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy
| | - Monica Faggioni
- La rotonda dei bambini, Scuola paritaria della coop. S.a.b.a., Genova, Italy
| | - Maria Bianca Amadeo
- Unit for Visually Impaired People (U-VIP), Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy
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Moosavi J, Resch A, Lecchi A, Sokolov AN, Fallgatter AJ, Pavlova MA. Reading language of the eyes in female depression. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhae253. [PMID: 38990517 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2024] [Revised: 05/31/2024] [Accepted: 06/03/2024] [Indexed: 07/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Aberrations in non-verbal social cognition have been reported to coincide with major depressive disorder. Yet little is known about the role of the eyes. To fill this gap, the present study explores whether and, if so, how reading language of the eyes is altered in depression. For this purpose, patients and person-by-person matched typically developing individuals were administered the Emotions in Masked Faces task and Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, modified, both of which contained a comparable amount of visual information available. For achieving group homogeneity, we set a focus on females as major depressive disorder displays a gender-specific profile. The findings show that facial masks selectively affect inferring emotions: recognition of sadness and anger are more heavily compromised in major depressive disorder as compared with typically developing controls, whereas the recognition of fear, happiness, and neutral expressions remains unhindered. Disgust, the forgotten emotion of psychiatry, is the least recognizable emotion in both groups. On the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test patients exhibit lower accuracy on positive expressions than their typically developing peers, but do not differ on negative items. In both depressive and typically developing individuals, the ability to recognize emotions behind a mask and performance on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test are linked to each other in processing speed, but not recognition accuracy. The outcome provides a blueprint for understanding the complexities of reading language of the eyes within and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonas Moosavi
- Social Neuroscience Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Medical School and University Hospital, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Calwerstr. 14, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Annika Resch
- Social Neuroscience Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Medical School and University Hospital, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Calwerstr. 14, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Alessandro Lecchi
- Social Neuroscience Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Medical School and University Hospital, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Calwerstr. 14, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Alexander N Sokolov
- Social Neuroscience Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Medical School and University Hospital, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Calwerstr. 14, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Andreas J Fallgatter
- Social Neuroscience Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Medical School and University Hospital, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Calwerstr. 14, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
- German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), Partner Site Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Marina A Pavlova
- Social Neuroscience Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Medical School and University Hospital, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Calwerstr. 14, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
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White S, Demler TL, Trigoboff E, Keers L, Matecki C. Impact of COVID-19 on the Mental Health of Psychiatric Inpatients. INNOVATIONS IN CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCE 2023; 20:18-22. [PMID: 38193104 PMCID: PMC10773606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2024]
Abstract
Purpose The perceptions and responses to acute states of emergency may vary for people experiencing serious mental illness (SMI). Therefore, studying the mental health toll of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychiatric inpatients can inform psychiatric care in the event of future global crises. The objective of this study was to determine if there was a difference in the incidence of mental health manifestations in an adult inpatient state psychiatric facility during the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to the immediately preceding year. Methods Medication administration history for patients who utilized an as needed (PRN) medication for anxiety, agitation, or psychosis between March 1, 2020, and February 28, 2021, were analyzed. Secondary data on the incidence of restraints and seclusions were also examined. Results The total number of PRN medications was higher during the pre-COVID-19 time frame than during the pandemic (8,139 vs. 7,630), but this was not statistically significant. The following assessments were statistically significant: predominance of psychosis as a psychiatric symptom during the COVID-19 time frame (557 vs. 389), and the difference in PRN medication administration times between time frames as categorized by day (3,741 vs. 2,623), evening (3,844 vs. 4,239), and night (554 vs. 768). Conclusion During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of PRN medications for psychosis increased and the use of PRN medications for anxiety and agitation decreased among inpatients at a state psychiatric hospital. These results suggest that experiencing a worldwide pandemic in a psychiatric inpatient facility may be protective in some respects but may exacerbate symptoms of psychosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samara White
- All authors are with Department of Pharmacy Practice, State University of New York at Buffalo, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Buffalo, New York
- Drs. Demler and White are additionally with Department of Pharmacy, New York State Office of Mental Health in Buffalo, New York
| | - Tammie Lee Demler
- All authors are with Department of Pharmacy Practice, State University of New York at Buffalo, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Buffalo, New York
- Drs. Demler and White are additionally with Department of Pharmacy, New York State Office of Mental Health in Buffalo, New York
- Drs. Demler and Trigoboff are additionally with the Department of Psychiatry, State University of New York at Buffalo, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in Buffalo, New York
| | - Eileen Trigoboff
- All authors are with Department of Pharmacy Practice, State University of New York at Buffalo, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Buffalo, New York
- Drs. Demler and Trigoboff are additionally with the Department of Psychiatry, State University of New York at Buffalo, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in Buffalo, New York
| | - Lucy Keers
- All authors are with Department of Pharmacy Practice, State University of New York at Buffalo, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Buffalo, New York
| | - Chloe Matecki
- All authors are with Department of Pharmacy Practice, State University of New York at Buffalo, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Buffalo, New York
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Pavlova MA, Moosavi J, Carbon CC, Fallgatter AJ, Sokolov AN. Emotions behind a mask: the value of disgust. SCHIZOPHRENIA (HEIDELBERG, GERMANY) 2023; 9:58. [PMID: 37709796 PMCID: PMC10502067 DOI: 10.1038/s41537-023-00388-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2023] [Accepted: 08/15/2023] [Indexed: 09/16/2023]
Abstract
The impact of face masks on social cognition and interaction became a popular topic due to the long-lasting COVID-19 pandemic. This theme persists in the focus of attention beyond the pandemic, since face covering not only reduces the overall amount of face information available but also introduces biases and prejudices affecting social perception at large. Many questions are still open. One of them is whether gender of beholders affects inferring of emotions covered by face masks. Reading covered faces may be particularly challenging for individuals with mental disorders, most of which are gender-specific. Previous findings are not only sparse, but inconclusive because most research had been conducted online with resulting samples heavily dominated by females. Here in a face-to-face study, females and males were presented with a randomized set of faces covered by masks. In a two-alternative forced-choice paradigm, participants had to indicate facial emotions displayed by posers. In general, the outcome dovetails with earlier findings that face masks affect emotion recognition in a dissimilar way: Inferring some emotions suffers more severely than others, with the most pronounced influence of mask wearing on disgust and close to ceiling recognition of fear and neutral expressions. Contrary to our expectations, however, males were on overall more proficient in emotion recognition. In particular, males substantially excelled in inferring disgust. The findings help to understand gender differences in recognition of disgust, the forgotten emotion of psychiatry, that is of substantial value for a wide range of mental disorders including schizophrenia. Watch Prof. Marina Pavlova discussing this her work and this article: https://vimeo.com/860126397/5966610f49?share=copy .
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina A Pavlova
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Medical School and University Hospital, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Jonas Moosavi
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Medical School and University Hospital, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Claus-Christian Carbon
- Department of General Psychology and Methodology, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany
| | - Andreas J Fallgatter
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Medical School and University Hospital, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Alexander N Sokolov
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Medical School and University Hospital, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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