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Lateralization of Facial Emotional Expression in Schizophrenic and Depressed Patients

Received December 17, 1997; revised March 12, 1998; accepted June 19, 1998. From the Department of Psychology, Queens College, and the Graduate School, City University of New York (CUNY); Department of Neurology, Mount Sinai Medical Center, CUNY; Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Saint Vincents Hospital and Medical Center; Department of Psychiatry, Bellevue Hospital Center; Department of Psychiatry, New York University Medical Center; and Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, New York. Address correspondence to Dr. Borod, Department of Psychology, NSB-E318, Queens College, 65-30 Kissena Blvd., Flushing, NY 11367.

This study examined facial emotional expressions produced by schizophrenic (SZ), unipolar depressed (UD), and normal control (NC) right-handed adults. Hypotheses regarding right-hemisphere activation in UD and suppression in SZ were addressed, as well as hypotheses about emotion and laterality. Subjects were videotaped while posing positive, neutral, and negative facial expressions to verbal command and to visual imitation. Naive judges rated hemiface stimuli for intensity in original and mirror-reversed orientations. Overall, SZs produced expressions with diminished intensity relative to UDs and NCs. Across subject groups, expressions were more intense in the visual than the verbal condition. In general, approach expressions were produced with greater right-hemiface intensity, and withdrawal expressions with greater left-hemiface intensity. UDs showed more pronounced facial asymmetry than SZs or NCs. An unanticipated right-hemispace perceptual bias among the judges may reflect the analytical, detailed rating procedure used and the presumably greater reliance by the judges on left- than right-hemisphere strategies.

Key Words: Schizophrenia • Depression • Facial Expression • Laterality, Cerebral

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