An investigation of the modulatory effects of empathic and autistic traits on emotional and facial motor responses during live social interactions.

ABSTRACT: A close relationship between emotional contagion and spontaneous facial mimicry has been theoretically proposed and is supported by empirical data. Facial expressions are essential in terms of both emotional and motor synchrony. Previous studies have demonstrated that trait emotional empathy enhanced spontaneous facial mimicry, but the relationship between autistic traits and spontaneous mimicry remained controversial. Moreover, previous studies presented faces that were static or videotaped, which may lack the "liveliness" of real-life social interactions. We addressed this limitation by using an image relay system to present live performances and pre-recorded videos of smiling or frowning dynamic facial expressions to 94 healthy female participants. We assessed their subjective experient

SUBMITTER: Hsu CT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10775989 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature