Psychopathology

Original Paper

Facial Reactions during Emotion Recognition in Borderline Personality Disorder: A Facial Electromyography Study

Matzke B.a · Herpertz S.C.a · Berger C.b · Fleischer M.b · Domes G.c

Author affiliations

aDepartment of General Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, bDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Rostock, Rostock, cDepartment of Psychology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

Keywords: Borderline personality disorderFacial emotion recognition ElectromyographyFacial activity

Related Articles for ""
Psychopathology 2014;47:101-110
https://doi.org/10.1159/000351122

Log in to MyKarger to check if you already have access to this content.




Forgot your password
Sign up to MyKarger

Buy

  • FullText & PDF
  • Unlimited re-access via MyKarger
  • Unrestricted printing, no saving restrictions for personal use
read more
CHF 38.00 *
EUR 35.00 *
USD 39.00 *

Select

KAB

Buy a Karger Article Bundle (KAB) and profit from a discount!


If you would like to redeem your KAB credit, please log in.

Save over 20% compared to the individual article price.

Learn more

Rent/Cloud

  • Rent for 48h to view
  • Buy Cloud Access for unlimited viewing via different devices
  • Synchronizing in the ReadCube Cloud
  • Printing and saving restrictions apply
Rental: USD 8.50
Cloud: USD 20.00

Select

Subscribe

  • Access to all articles of the subscribed year(s) guaranteed for 5 years
  • Unlimited re-access via Subscriber Login or MyKarger
  • Unrestricted printing, no saving restrictions for personal use
read more

Subcription rates

Select
* The final prices may differ from the prices shown due to specifics of VAT rules.

Article / Publication Details

First-Page Preview
Abstract of Original Paper

Received: November 08, 2012
Accepted: April 04, 2013
Published online: September 07, 2013
Issue release date: March 2014

Number of Print Pages: 10
Number of Figures: 3
Number of Tables: 2

ISSN: 0254-4962 (Print)
eISSN: 1423-033X (Online)

For additional information: https://www.karger.com/PSP

Abstract

Background: Previous studies have suggested increased sensitivity for emotional facial expressions and subtle impairments in emotion recognition from facial expressions in borderline personality disorder (BPD). It has been proposed that facial mimicry contributes to emotion recognition of and emotional response to facial expressions. This study investigated whether BPD patients differ in facial reactions, emotion recognition and their subjective emotional response to faces showing different emotional expressions. Method: Twenty-eight female BPD patients and 28 healthy controls underwent a facial recognition task with dynamic facial pictures while facial muscle activity (occipitofrontalis, corrugator supercilii, levator labii superioris, zygomaticus major and orbicularis oculi) was recorded. Furthermore, participants rated the emotional intensity of the presented faces and the intensity of their subjective feeling of this emotion. Results: Compared to controls, BPD patients showed enhanced responses of the corrugator supercilii muscle in response to angry, sad and disgusted facial expressions, and attenuated responses of the levator labii superioris in response to happy and surprised faces. There were no overall group differences regarding emotion recognition performance or intensity ratings. Conclusion: These results do not support the view that facial recognition in BPD is impaired or that there is a general hypersensitivity to the emotional state of others. Instead, they suggest a negativity bias in BPD, expressed by reduced facial responding to positive social signals and increased facial responding to negative social signals. This is a pattern of facial reactions that might contribute to the difficulties in social interactions frequently reported by patients with this disorder.

© 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel



Related Articles:

References

  1. Wagner AW, Linehan MM: Facial expression recognition ability among women with borderline personality disorder: implications for emotion regulation? J Pers Disord 1999;13:329-344.
    External Resources
  2. Fonagy P, Luyten P: A developmental, mentalization-based approach to the understanding and treatment of borderline personality disorder. Dev Psychopathol 2009;21:1355-1381.
    External Resources
  3. Roepke S, Vater A, Preißler S, Heekeren HR, Dziobek I: Social cognition in borderline personality disorder. Front Neurosci 2013;6:1-12.
    External Resources
  4. Jovev M, Chanen A, Green M, Cotton S, Proffitt T, Coltheart M, Jackson H: Emotional sensitivity in youth with borderline personality pathology. Psychiat Res 2011;187:234-240.
    External Resources
  5. Koenigsberg HW, Siever LJ, Lee H, Pizzarello S, New AS, Goodman M, Cheng H, Flory J, Prohovnik I: Neural correlates of emotion processing in borderline personality disorder. Psychiat Res 2009;172:192-199.
    External Resources
  6. Herpertz SC, Werth U, Lukas G, Qunaibi M, Schuerkens A, Kunert HJ, Freese R, Flesch M, Mueller-Isberner R, Osterheider M, Sass H: Emotion in criminal offenders with psychopathy and borderline personality disorder. Arch Gen Psychiat 2001;58:737-745.
    External Resources
  7. Renneberg B, Heyn K, Gebhard R, Bachmann S: Facial expression of emotions in borderline personality disorder and depression. J Behav Ther Exp Psy 2005;36:183-196.
    External Resources
  8. Levine D, Marziali E, Hood J: Emotion processing in borderline personality disorders. J Nerv Ment Dis 1997;185:240-246.
    External Resources
  9. Ebner-Priemer UW, Welch SS, Grossman P, Reisch T, Linehan MM, Bohus M: Psychophysiological ambulatory assessment of affective dysregulation in borderline personality disorder. Psychiat Res 2007;150:265-275.
    External Resources
  10. Gratz KL, Rosenthal MZ, Tull MT, Lejuez CW, Gunderson JG: An experimental investigation of emotional reactivity and delayed emotional recovery in borderline personality disorder: the role of shame. Compr Psychiat 2010;51:275-285.
    External Resources
  11. Jacob GA, Hellstern K, Ower N, Pillmann M, Scheel CN, Rüsch N, Lieb K: Emotional reactions to standardized stimuli in women with borderline personality disorder. J Nerv Ment Dis 2009;197:808-815.
    External Resources
  12. Marissen MA, Meuleman L, Franken IH: Altered emotional information processing in borderline personality disorder: an electrophysiological study. Psychiatry Res 2010;181:226-232.
    External Resources
  13. Lobbestael J, Arntz A: Emotional, cognitive and physiological correlates of abuse-related stress in borderline and antisocial personality disorder. Behav Res Ther 2010;48:116-124.
    External Resources
  14. Kuo JR, Linehan MM: Disentangling emotion processes in borderline personality disorder: physiological and self-reported assessment of biological vulnerability, baseline intensity, and reactivity to emotionally evocative stimuli. J Abnorm Psychol 2009;118:531-544.
    External Resources
  15. Dziobek I, Preißler S, Grozdanovic Z, Heuser I, Heekeren HR, Roepke S: Neuronal correlates of altered empathy and social cognition in borderline personality disorder. Neuroimage 2011;57:539-548.
    External Resources
  16. Ebner-Priemer UW, Badeck S, Beckmann C, Wagner A, Feige B, Weiss I, Lieb K, Bohus M: Affective dysregulation and dissociative experience in female patients with borderline personality disorder: a startle response study. J Psychiat Res 2005;39:85-92.
    External Resources
  17. Limberg A, Barnow S, Freyberger HJ, Hamm AO: Emotional vulnerability in borderline personality disorder is cue specific and modulated by traumatization. Biol Psychiat 2011;69:574-582.
    External Resources
  18. Austin MA, Riniolo TC, Porges SW: Borderline personality disorder and emotion regulation: insights from the polyvagal theory. Brain Cogn 2007;65:69-76.
    External Resources
  19. Weinberg A, Klonsky ED, Hajcak G: Autonomic impairment in borderline personality disorder: a laboratory investigation. Brain Cogn 2009;71:279-286.
    External Resources
  20. Sieswerda S, Arntz A, Mertens I, Vertommen S: Hypervigilance in patients with borderline personality disorder: specificity, automaticity, and predictors. Behav Res Ther 2006;45:1011-1024.
    External Resources
  21. Staebler K, Renneberg B, Stopsack M, Fiedler P, Weiler M, Roepke S: Facial emotional expression in reaction to social exlusion in borderline personality disorder. Psychol Med 2011;41:1929-1938.
    External Resources
  22. Guitart-Masip M, Pascual JC, Carmona S, Hoekzema E, Bergé D, Pérez V, Soler J, Soliva JC, Rovira M, Bulbena A, Vilarroya O: Neural correlates of impaired emotional discrimination in borderline personality disorder: an fMRI study. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2009;33:1537-1545.
    External Resources
  23. Unoka Z, Fogd D, Füzy M, Csukly G: Misreading the facial signs: specific impairments and error patterns in recognition of facial emotions with negative valence in borderline personality disorder. Psychiat Res 2011;189:419-425.
    External Resources
  24. Lynch TR, Rosenthal MZ, Kosson DS, Cheavens JS, Lejuez CW, Blair RJ: Heightened sensitivity to facial expressions of emotion in borderline personality disorder. Emotion 2006;6:647-655.
    External Resources
  25. Schulze L, Domes G, Köppen D, Herpertz SC: Enhanced detection of emotional facial expressions in borderline personality disorder. Psychopathology 2013;46:217-224.
    External Resources
  26. Domes G, Czieschnek D, Weidler F, Berger C, Fast K, Herpertz SC: Recognition of facial affect in borderline personality disorder. J Pers Disord 2008;22:135-147.
    External Resources
  27. Dyck M, Habel U, Slodczyk J, Schlummer J, Backes V, Schneider F, Reske M: Negative bias in fast emotion discrimination in borderline personality disorder. Psychol Med 2009;39:855-864.
    External Resources
  28. Minzenberg MJ, Poole JH, Vinogradov S: Social-emotion recognition in borderline personality disorder. Compr Psychiat 2006;47:468-474.
    External Resources
  29. Minzenberg MJ, Fan J, New AS, Tang CY, Siever LJ: Fronto-limbic dysfunction in response to facial emotion in borderline personality disorder: an event-related fMRI study. Psychiat Res 2007;155:231-243.
    External Resources
  30. Donegan NH, Sanislow CA, Blumberg HP, Fulbright RK, Lacadie C, Skudlarski P, Gore JC, Olson IR, McGlashan TH, Wexler BE: Amygdala hyperreactivity in borderline personality disorder: implications for emotional dysregulation. Biol Psychiatry 2003;54:1284-1293.
    External Resources
  31. Merkl A, Ammelburg N, Aust S, Roepke S, Reinecker H, Trahms L, Heuser I, Sander T: Processing of visual stimuli in borderline personality disorder: a combined behavioural and magnetoencephalographic study. Int J Psychophysiol 2010;78:257-264.
    External Resources
  32. Domes G, Grabe HJ, Czieschnek D, Heinrichs M, Herpertz SC: Alexithymic traits and facial emotion recognition in borderline personality disorder. Psychother Psychosom 2011;80:383-385.
    External Resources
  33. Stiglmayr CE, Grathwol T, Linehan MM, Ihorst G, Fahrenberg J, Bohus M: Aversive tension in patients with borderline personality disorder: a computer-based controlled field study. Acta Psychiat Scand 2005;111:372-379.
    External Resources
  34. Domes G, Schulze L, Herpertz SC: Emotion recognition in borderline personality disorder - a review of the literature. J Pers Disord 2009;23:6-19.
    External Resources
  35. Dimberg U: Facial electromyography and emotional reactions. Psychophysiology 1990;27:481-494.
    External Resources
  36. Sato W, Fujimura T, Suzuki N: Enhanced facial EMG activity in response to dynamic facial expressions. Int J Psychophysiol 2008;70:70-74.
    External Resources
  37. Hess U, Kappas A, McHugo GJ, Lanzetta JT, Kleck RE: The facilitative effect of facial expression on the self-generation of emotion. Int J Psychophysiol 1992;12:251-265.
    External Resources
  38. Magnee MJCM, Stekelenburg JJ, Kemner C, de Gelder B: Similar facial electromyographic responses to faces, voices, and body expression. Neuroreport 2007;18:369-372.
    External Resources
  39. Wolf K, Mass R, Ingenbleet T, Kiefer F, Naber D, Wiedemann K: The facial pattern of disgust, appetence, excited joy and relaxed joy: an improved facial EMG study. Scand J Psychol 2005;46:403-409.
    External Resources
  40. Vrana SR: The psychophysiology of disgust: differentiating negative emotional contexts with facial EMG. Psychophysiology 1993;30:279-286.
    External Resources
  41. Wolf K, Mass R, Kiefer F, Wiedemann K, Naber D: Characterization of the facial expression of emotions in schizophrenia patients: preliminary findings with a new electromyography method. Can J Psychiat 2006;51:335-341.
    External Resources
  42. Moody EJ, McIntosh DN, Mann LJ, Weisser KR: More than mere mimicry? The influence of emotion on rapid facial reactions to faces. Emotion 2007;7:447-457.
    External Resources
  43. Vanhamme J: The link between surprise and satisfaction: an exploratory research on how best to measure surprise. J Marketing Manage 2000;16:565-582.
    External Resources
  44. Rymarczyk K, Biele C, Grabowska A, Majczynski H: EMG activity in response to static and dynamic facial expressions. Int J Psychophysiol 2011;79:330-333.
    External Resources
  45. Hess U, Blairy S: Facial mimicry and emotional contagion to dynamic emotional facial expressions and their influence on decoding accuracy. Int J Psychophysiol 2001;40:129-141.
    External Resources
  46. Hess U, Adams RB, Kleck RE: The face is not an empty canvas: how facial expressions interact with facial appearance. Philos T Roy Soc B 2009;364:3497-3504.
    External Resources
  47. Iacoboni M: Imitation, empathy and mirror neurons. Ann Rev Psychol 2009;60:653-670.
    External Resources
  48. Duan C, Hill CE: The current state of empathy research. J Couns Psychol 1996;43:261-274.
    External Resources
  49. Baron-Cohen S, Wheelwright S: The empathy quotient: an investigation of adults with Asperger syndrome or high functioning autism, and normal sex differences. J Autism Dev Disord 2004;34:163-175.
    External Resources
  50. Singer T, Lamm C: The social neuroscience of empathy. Ann NY Acad Sci 2009;1156:81-96.
    External Resources
  51. Duan C: Being empathic: the role of motivation to empathize and the nature of target emotions. Motiv Emotion 2000;24:29-49.
    External Resources
  52. Dimberg U, Andréasson P, Thunberg M: Emotional empathy and facial reactions to facial expressions. J Psychophysiol 2011;25:26-31.
    External Resources
  53. Cappella JN: The facial feedback hypothesis in human interaction: review and speculation. J Lang Soc Psychol 1993;12:13-29.
    External Resources
  54. Izard CE: Facial expressions and the regulation of emotions. J Pers Soc Psychol 1990;58:487-498.
    External Resources
  55. Wittchen H, Zaudig M, Fydrich T: Strukturiertes klinisches Interview für DSM-IV. Bern, Hogrefe Verlag, 1997.
  56. Loranger AW, Sartorius N, Andreoli A, Berger P, Buchheim P, Channabasavanna SM, Coid B, Dahl A, Diekstra RF, Ferguson B: The international personality disorder examination. The World Health Organization/Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration International Pilot Study of Personality Disorders. Arch Gen Psychiat 1994;51:215-224.
    External Resources
  57. Mombour W, Zaudig M, Berger P, Gutierrez K, Berner W, Berger K, von Cranach M, Giglhuber O, von Bose M: Loranger AW (ed): IPDE, International Personality Disorder Examination Deutschsprachige Ausgabe. Bern, Huber, 1996.
  58. Wechsler D: The Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence. New York, Psychological Cooperation, 1999.
  59. Lawrence EJ, Shaw P, Baker D, Baron-Cohen S, David AS: Measuring empathy: reliability and validity of the empathy quotient. Psychol Med 2004;34:911-919.
    External Resources
  60. Davis M: Measuring individual differences in empathy: evidence for a multidimensional approach. J Pers Soc Psychol 1983;44:113-126.
    External Resources
  61. Davis M, Franzoi S: Stability and change in adolescent self-consciousness and empathy. J Res Pers 1991;25:70-87.
    External Resources
  62. Pulos S, Elison J, Lennon R: The hierarchical structure of the interpersonal reactivity index. Soc Behav Personal 2004;32:355-360.
    External Resources
  63. Beck AT, Steer RA, Hautzinger M: Beck-Depressions-Inventar (BDI), ed 2. Bern, Huber, 1995.
  64. Laux L, Glanzmann P, Schaffner P, Spielberger C: Das State-Trait-Angstinventar: theoretische Grundlagen und Handanweisung. Weinheim, Beltz Test, 1981.
  65. Schwenkmezger P, Hodapp V, Spielberger C: Das State-Trait-Aergerausdrucks-Inventar (STAXI): Handbuch. Bern, Huber, 1992.
  66. Wolf M, Limberger MF, Kleindienst N, Stieglitz R, Domsalla M, Philipsen A, Steil R, Bohus M: Kurzversion der Borderline-Symptom-Liste (BSL-23): Entwicklung und Überprüfung der psychometrischen Eigenschaften. Psychother Psych Med 2009;59:321-324.
    External Resources
  67. Zanarini MC, Vujanovic AA, Parachini EA, Boulanger JL, Frankenburg FR, Hennen J: Zanarini Rating Scale for Borderline Personality Disorder (ZAN-BPD): a continuous measure of DSM-IV borderline psychopathology. J Pers Disord 2003;17:233-242.
    External Resources
  68. Tottenham N, Tanaka JW, Leon AC, McCarry T, Nurse M, Hare TA, Marcus DJ, Westerlund A, Casey BJ, Nelson C: The NimStim set of facial expressions: judgments from untrained research participants. Psychiatry Res 2009;168:242-249.
    External Resources
  69. Fridlund AJ, Cacioppo JT: Guidelines for human electromyographic research. Psychophysiology 1986;23:567-589.
    External Resources
  70. Staebler K, Gebhard R, Barnett W, Renneberg B: Emotional responses in borderline personality disorder and depression: assessment during acute crisis and 8 months later. J Behav Ther Exp Psy 2009;40:85-97.
    External Resources
  71. Satpute AB, Lieberman MD: Integrating automatic and controlled processes into neurocognitive models of social cognition. Brain Res 2006;1079:86-97.
    External Resources
  72. Izard CE, Woodburn EM, Finlon KJ, Krauthamer-Ewing ES, Grossman SR, Seidenfeld A: Emotion knowledge, emotion utilization, and emotion regulation. Emotion Rev 2011;3:44-52.
    External Resources
  73. Strack F, Martin LL, Stepper S: Inhibiting and facilitating conditions of the human smile: a nonobtrusive test of the facial feedback hypothesis. J Pers Soc Psychol 1988;54:768-777.
    External Resources
  74. Sloan DM, Bradley MM, Dimoulas E, Lang PJ: Looking at facial expressions: dysphoria and facial EMG. Biol Psychol 2002;60:79-90.
    External Resources

Article / Publication Details

First-Page Preview
Abstract of Original Paper

Received: November 08, 2012
Accepted: April 04, 2013
Published online: September 07, 2013
Issue release date: March 2014

Number of Print Pages: 10
Number of Figures: 3
Number of Tables: 2

ISSN: 0254-4962 (Print)
eISSN: 1423-033X (Online)

For additional information: https://www.karger.com/PSP

Copyright / Drug Dosage / Disclaimer

Copyright: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated into other languages, reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, microcopying, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Drug Dosage: The authors and the publisher have exerted every effort to ensure that drug selection and dosage set forth in this text are in accord with current recommendations and practice at the time of publication. However, in view of ongoing research, changes in government regulations, and the constant flow of information relating to drug therapy and drug reactions, the reader is urged to check the package insert for each drug for any changes in indications and dosage and for added warnings and precautions. This is particularly important when the recommended agent is a new and/or infrequently employed drug.
Disclaimer: The statements, opinions and data contained in this publication are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the publishers and the editor(s). The appearance of advertisements or/and product references in the publication is not a warranty, endorsement, or approval of the products or services advertised or of their effectiveness, quality or safety. The publisher and the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content or advertisements.

Article Tools
Article Details

2014, Vol.47, No. 2

March 2014

Article

Recommend This
TOP