Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 8, 2025

Conscious and Non-conscious Representations of Emotional Faces in Asperger's Syndrome
Published on: July 31, 2016
Establishing the Relationship Between Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Emotional Facial Expression
Maria Daniela Olaya-Galindo1, Oscar Alberto Vargas-Cifuentes1, Alberto Vélez Van-Meerbeke1
1Neuroscience research group (NeURos), NeuroVitae Center for Neuroscience, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia.
Objective:
In this review, we examined if there is a deficit in facial recognition of emotion (FER) in children, adolescents, and adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Background:
Emotional regulation is impaired in ADHD. Although a facial emotion recognition deficit has been described in this condition, the underlying causal mechanisms remain unclear.
Methods:
The search was performed in six databases in September 2022. Studies assessing children, adolescents, or adults with isolated or comorbid ADHD that evaluated participants using a FER task were included.
Results:
Twelve studies out of 385 were selected, with participants ranging in age from 6 to 37.1 years. A deficit in FER specific to ADHD, or secondary to comorbid autism spectrum disorder, anxiety, and oppositional symptoms, was found.
Conclusions:
There is a FER deficit in patients with ADHD. Adults showed improved recognition accuracy, reflecting partial compensation. ADHD symptoms and comorbidities appear to influence FER deficits.
More Related Videos
05:32Comparing Eye-tracking Data of Children with High-functioning ASD, Comorbid ADHD, and of a Control Watching Social Videos
Published on: December 7, 2018
05:51Exploring the Use of Isolated Expressions and Film Clips to Evaluate Emotion Recognition by People with Traumatic Brain Injury
Published on: May 15, 2016
Related Concept Videos
Facial Feedback Hypothesis
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Diagnostic Criteria and Symptoms
To diagnose ADHD, symptoms must manifest before age 12 and be evident across multiple settings....
Emotional Expression
Universal Facial Expressions
Psychologist Paul Ekman identified seven basic...
Cognitive Theories: Schachter-Singer Theory of Emotion
Physiological Arousal and Cognitive Labeling
According to this theory, when an individual experiences...