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Emotional experience and perception in the absence of facial feedback

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2002

JOCELYN M. KEILLOR ,
ANNA M. BARRETT ,
GREGORY P. CRUCIAN ,
SARAH KORTENKAMP,  and
KENNETH M. HEILMAN
JOCELYN M. KEILLOR
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville and Research Service, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Gainesville, Florida
ANNA M. BARRETT
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville and Research Service, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Gainesville, Florida
GREGORY P. CRUCIAN
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville and Research Service, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Gainesville, Florida
SARAH KORTENKAMP,
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
KENNETH M. HEILMAN
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville and Research Service, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Gainesville, Florida
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Abstract

The facial feedback hypothesis suggests that facial expressions are either necessary or sufficient to produce emotional experience. Researchers have noted that the ideal test of the necessity aspect of this hypothesis would be an evaluation of emotional experience in a patient suffering from a bilateral facial paralysis; however, this condition is rare and no such report has been documented. We examined the role of facial expressions in the determination of emotion by studying a patient (F.P.) suffering from a bilateral facial paralysis. Despite her inability to convey emotions through facial expressions, F.P. reported normal emotional experience. When F.P. viewed emotionally evocative slides her reactions were not dampened relative to the normative sample. F.P. retained her ability to detect, discriminate, and image emotional expressions. These findings are not consistent with theories stating that feedback from an active face is necessary to experience emotion, or to process emotional facial expressions. (JINS, 2002, 8, 130–135.)

Keywords

Facial feedbackEmotionFacial paralysisFace perception
Type
CASE STUDY
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , January 2002 , pp. 130 - 135
Copyright
© 2002 The International Neuropsychological Society

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