Comparative Analysis of Facial Expressions of Right and Left Hemisphere Damaged Patients Using Facial Action Coding System

Abstract

  We examined the facial expression characteristic in patients with damaged left and right hemispheres. A total of 10 participants with left hemispheric damaged (LHD) , 10 with right hemispheric damaged stimulus with low emotional arousal effect, whereas a conversation with an emotional topic was used as stimulus with high effect. The International Affective Picture Systems were used for emotional still images, and participants selected their impression for the stimulus from three choices: like, dislike, and neither. Facial expressions were evaluated using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) , which were objective evaluation system based on facial anatomy. Facial expressions were recorded with a video camera. No significant difference was found in the selected impression among the three groups under the still image condition. The total number of facial expressions in the RHD group under still image condition was smaller than that in the LHD and adults without hemispheric damage groups. Moreover, no significant difference was observed in conversation conditions among the three groups. The emotional facial expressions in the RHD group were considered to be affected by the emotional effect of stimulation. We believe that this is the first study that used FACS to elucidate the facial expression characteristic in patients with LHD and RHD.