TY - JOUR
T1 - Neuropsychological aspects of facial asymmetry during emotional expression
T2 - A review of the normal adult literature
AU - Borod, Joan C.
AU - Haywood, Cornelia Santschi
AU - Koff, Elissa
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported, in part, by NIMH Grants MH42172 and MH44889 and by PSC-CUNY Grants 662430 and 663432 to the first author at Queens College.
PY - 1997/3
Y1 - 1997/3
N2 - This review focuses on facial asymmetries during emotional expression. Facial asymmetry is defined as the expression intensity or muscular involvement on one side of the face ('hemiface') relative to the other side and has been used as a behavioral index of hemispheric specialization for facial emotional expression. This paper presents a history of the neuropsychological study of facial asymmetry, originating with Darwin. Both quantitative and qualitative aspects of asymmetry are addressed. Next, neuroanatomical bases for facial expression are elucidated, separately for posed/voluntary and spontaneous/involuntary elicitation conditions. This is followed by a comprehensive review of 49 experiments of facial asymmetry in the adult literature, oriented around emotional valence (pleasantness/unpleasantness), elicitation condition, facial part, social display rules, and demographic factors. Results of this review indicate that the left hemiface is more involved than the right hemiface in the expression of facial emotion. From a neuropsychological perspective, these findings implicate the right cerebral hemisphere as dominant for the facial expression of emotion. In spite of the compelling evidence for right-hemispheric specialization, some data point to the possibility of differential hemispheric involvement as a function of emotional valence.
AB - This review focuses on facial asymmetries during emotional expression. Facial asymmetry is defined as the expression intensity or muscular involvement on one side of the face ('hemiface') relative to the other side and has been used as a behavioral index of hemispheric specialization for facial emotional expression. This paper presents a history of the neuropsychological study of facial asymmetry, originating with Darwin. Both quantitative and qualitative aspects of asymmetry are addressed. Next, neuroanatomical bases for facial expression are elucidated, separately for posed/voluntary and spontaneous/involuntary elicitation conditions. This is followed by a comprehensive review of 49 experiments of facial asymmetry in the adult literature, oriented around emotional valence (pleasantness/unpleasantness), elicitation condition, facial part, social display rules, and demographic factors. Results of this review indicate that the left hemiface is more involved than the right hemiface in the expression of facial emotion. From a neuropsychological perspective, these findings implicate the right cerebral hemisphere as dominant for the facial expression of emotion. In spite of the compelling evidence for right-hemispheric specialization, some data point to the possibility of differential hemispheric involvement as a function of emotional valence.
KW - Emotion
KW - Facial asymmetry
KW - Gender
KW - Lateralization for emotion
KW - Neuroanatomy of facial expression
KW - Posed and spontaneous expression
KW - Valence
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0030792393&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/BF02876972
DO - 10.1007/BF02876972
M3 - Review article
C2 - 9243530
AN - SCOPUS:0030792393
SN - 1040-7308
VL - 7
SP - 41
EP - 60
JO - Neuropsychology Review
JF - Neuropsychology Review
IS - 1
ER -