Imitation of facial expressions in schizophrenia
Abstract
Diminished facial expressivity is a common feature of schizophrenia that interferes with effective interpersonal communication. This study was designed to determine if real-time visual feedback improved the ability of patients with schizophrenia to imitate and produce modeled facial expressions. Twenty patients with schizophrenia and 10 controls viewed static images of facial expressions and were asked to imitate them. Half of the images were imitated with the use of a mirror and half were imitated without the use of a mirror. In addition, we examined whether practice in imitating and producing expressions improved the ability of participants to generate facial expressions on their own, without the aid of a model or mirror. Participants' facial expressions were photographed with a digital camera and each was rated for accuracy in producing characteristic facial expressions. Patients with schizophrenia were less accurate in imitating and producing facial expressions than controls, and real-time visual feedback did not improve accuracy in either group. Preliminary findings suggest that exposure to model expressions and practice in generating these expressions can improve the accuracy of certain posed expressions in schizophrenia.
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Earlier behavioral work suggests that people with schizophrenia imitate others less accurately.
“Behavioral studies on imitation in schizophrenia suggest that patients are impaired at imitating others [7][8][9][10][11][12]”
From Enhanced Automatic Action Imitation and Intact Imitation-Inhibition in Schizophrenia (2019) · cites this paper as [7]
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- Authors
- Schwartz, B. L., Mastropaolo, J., Rosse, R. B., Mathis, G., & Deutsch, S. I.
- Affiliations
- United States Department of Veterans Affairs (US)
- Corresponding author
- Deutsch, Stephen I.
- ORCID
- Schwartz, Barbara L.
- Venue
- Psychiatry Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2006-12
- Volume
- 145
- Issue
- 2-3
- Pages
- 87-94
- ISSN
- 0165-1781 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1995761998
- Cited by
- 40
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2025: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 2 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 1.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychiatry Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
- National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Mental Health and Psychiatry
- Keywords
- schizophrenia, facial expressivity, facial expression imitation, mirror visual feedback, real-time visual feedback, facial expression production, interpersonal communication, social cognition
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Facial Expression, Feedback, Female, Humans, Imitative Behavior, Male, Middle Aged, Perceptual Disorders, Remedial Teaching, Schizophrenia, Schizophrenic Psychology, Visual Perception, Expressed Emotion
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