It is in your face-Alexithymia impairs facial mimicry

Alexithymia is characterized by a reduced ability to identify and differentiate emotional aspects of social interaction. In this study we investigated, for the first time, whether alexithymia impairs facial mimicry in response to dynamic naturalistic facial affect expressions. Potential volunteers were recruited by means of an online survey (N = 3503). Based on their Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 sum-score (TAS-20) probands were assigned to an alexithymic group (AG; M = 58.11, SD = 4.58) or a nonalexithymic healthy control group (HC; M = 32.05, SD = 5.56). Both groups were matched by age, gender, and education. All probands were shown digitally generated naturalistic video sequences of faces displaying the basic affects of fear, sadness, disgust, anger, and joy. During the presentation, the participants' facial mimicry responses were recorded by registering the electromyographic (EMG) activity of the corrugator supercilii and zygomaticus major muscles. Overall, the alexithymic probands showed a significantly lower facial EMG activity in response to the affective faces compared to HC. The results thus suggest that alexithymia is associated with a reduced facial mimicry. We discuss the implications of these findings from the perspective of alexithymic impairments within social interaction and the consideration for psychotherapeutic treatment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).