Imitation and recognition of facial emotions in autism: a computer vision approach.
Hanna Drimalla, Irina Baskow, Behnoush Behnia and 2 others
PMID 33823922WHAT IT FOUND
Adults with autism recognized fewer emotions and were slower than controls.
They could imitate facial expressions when asked, but their imitation was less precise and slower. Precision of imitation correlated with recognition accuracy, though instructing imitation lowered immediate recognition performance.
Key findings
01Adults with autism showed lower emotion recognition accuracy and slower reaction times compared to neurotypical adults.
02Individuals with autism were able to imitate facial expressions when instructed, but their imitation was less precise and slower than that of neurotypical individuals.
03The precision of facial imitation was positively associated with emotion recognition accuracy across all participants.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study only included adults with autism who did not have intellectual impairment, so findings may not apply to children or those with co-occurring intellectual disabilities. The imitation task involved static photographs rather than dynamic real-world interactions, which may not reflect natural social behavior. Computer analysis (OpenFace) may miss subtle muscle movements that electromyography (EMG) could detect. The instruction to 'move facial muscles' may have been interpreted differently by the two groups, potentially affecting how they focused on the face.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was funded by the Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Universität Bielefeld.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that training imitation will automatically improve emotion recognition in your clients. In this study, the immediate instruction to imitate actually worsened recognition accuracy, likely due to increased cognitive load. The link between imitation precision and recognition was correlational, not causal.