Dynamic Emotion Recognition and Expression Imitation in Neurotypical Adults and Their Associations with Autistic Traits

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social interaction and communication. While many studies suggest that individuals with ASD struggle with emotion processing, the association between emotion processing and autistic traits in non-clinical pop...

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Main Authors: Hai-Ting Wang, Jia-Ling Lyu, Sarina Hui-Lin Chien
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-12-01
Series:Sensors
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/24/24/8133
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author Hai-Ting Wang
Jia-Ling Lyu
Sarina Hui-Lin Chien
author_facet Hai-Ting Wang
Jia-Ling Lyu
Sarina Hui-Lin Chien
author_sort Hai-Ting Wang
collection DOAJ
description Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social interaction and communication. While many studies suggest that individuals with ASD struggle with emotion processing, the association between emotion processing and autistic traits in non-clinical populations is still unclear. We examine whether neurotypical adults’ facial emotion recognition and expression imitation are associated with autistic traits. We recruited 32 neurotypical adults; each received two computerized tasks, the Dynamic Emotion Recognition and Expression Imitation, and two standardized measures: the Chinese version AQ and the Twenty-Item Prosopagnosia Index (PI-20). Results for the dynamic emotion recognition showed that happiness has the highest mean accuracy, followed by surprise, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust. For expression imitation, it was easiest to imitate surprise and happiness, followed by disgust, while the accuracy of imitating sadness, anger, and fear was much lower. Importantly, individual AQ scores negatively correlated with emotion recognition accuracy and positively correlated with PI-20. The AQ imagination, communication sub-scores, and PI-20 positively correlated with the expression imitation of surprise. In summary, we found a significant link between recognizing emotional expressions and the level of autistic traits in non-clinical populations, supporting the concept of broader autism phenotype.
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spelling doaj-art-86c2f8dc43ee41c88364f669c078d0032025-08-20T02:50:43ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202024-12-012424813310.3390/s24248133Dynamic Emotion Recognition and Expression Imitation in Neurotypical Adults and Their Associations with Autistic TraitsHai-Ting Wang0Jia-Ling Lyu1Sarina Hui-Lin Chien2Graduate Institute of Biological Science and Technology, China Medical University, Taichung 404, TaiwanGraduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, China Medical University, Taichung 404, TaiwanGraduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, China Medical University, Taichung 404, TaiwanAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social interaction and communication. While many studies suggest that individuals with ASD struggle with emotion processing, the association between emotion processing and autistic traits in non-clinical populations is still unclear. We examine whether neurotypical adults’ facial emotion recognition and expression imitation are associated with autistic traits. We recruited 32 neurotypical adults; each received two computerized tasks, the Dynamic Emotion Recognition and Expression Imitation, and two standardized measures: the Chinese version AQ and the Twenty-Item Prosopagnosia Index (PI-20). Results for the dynamic emotion recognition showed that happiness has the highest mean accuracy, followed by surprise, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust. For expression imitation, it was easiest to imitate surprise and happiness, followed by disgust, while the accuracy of imitating sadness, anger, and fear was much lower. Importantly, individual AQ scores negatively correlated with emotion recognition accuracy and positively correlated with PI-20. The AQ imagination, communication sub-scores, and PI-20 positively correlated with the expression imitation of surprise. In summary, we found a significant link between recognizing emotional expressions and the level of autistic traits in non-clinical populations, supporting the concept of broader autism phenotype.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/24/24/8133face processingdynamic emotion recognitionexpression imitationautism quotient (AQ)broader autism phenotype (BAP)
spellingShingle Hai-Ting Wang
Jia-Ling Lyu
Sarina Hui-Lin Chien
Dynamic Emotion Recognition and Expression Imitation in Neurotypical Adults and Their Associations with Autistic Traits
Sensors
face processing
dynamic emotion recognition
expression imitation
autism quotient (AQ)
broader autism phenotype (BAP)
title Dynamic Emotion Recognition and Expression Imitation in Neurotypical Adults and Their Associations with Autistic Traits
title_full Dynamic Emotion Recognition and Expression Imitation in Neurotypical Adults and Their Associations with Autistic Traits
title_fullStr Dynamic Emotion Recognition and Expression Imitation in Neurotypical Adults and Their Associations with Autistic Traits
title_full_unstemmed Dynamic Emotion Recognition and Expression Imitation in Neurotypical Adults and Their Associations with Autistic Traits
title_short Dynamic Emotion Recognition and Expression Imitation in Neurotypical Adults and Their Associations with Autistic Traits
title_sort dynamic emotion recognition and expression imitation in neurotypical adults and their associations with autistic traits
topic face processing
dynamic emotion recognition
expression imitation
autism quotient (AQ)
broader autism phenotype (BAP)
url https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/24/24/8133
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