Altered recognition of fearful and angry facial expressions in women with fibromyalgia syndrome: an experimental case–control study

Federica Scarpina, Ada Ghiggia, Giulia Vaioli, Giorgia Varallo, Paolo Capodaglio, Marco Arreghini, Gianluca Castelnuovo, Alessandro Mauro, Lorys Castelli

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

Abstract

Evidence relative to facial emotion recognition and the role played by alexithymia in fibromyalgia syndrome is rare and heterogeneous. In this work, we investigated this ability in fibromyalgia investigating the implicit behaviour in the facial emotion recognition task, focusing on fear and anger. Twenty women with fibromyalgia and twenty healthy women as controls performed a facial emotion recognition of fearful and angry expressions. Their implicit behaviour was scored in accordance with the redundant target effect. The level of alexithymic traits through a standard psychological questionnaire and its effect on behavioral performance were also assessed. Participants affected by fibromyalgia reported a lower level of accuracy in recognizing fearful and angry expressions, in comparison with the controls. Crucially, such a difference was not explained by the different levels of alexithymic traits between groups. Our results agreed with some previous evidence suggesting an altered recognition of others’ emotional facial expressions in fibromyalgia syndrome. Considering the role of emotion recognition on social cognition and psychological well-being in fibromyalgia, we underlined the crucial role of emotional difficulties in the onset and maintenance of the symptoms life-span.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-14
Number of pages14
JournalScientific Reports
Volume12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Keywords

  • Fibromyalgia

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Altered recognition of fearful and angry facial expressions in women with fibromyalgia syndrome: an experimental case–control study'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this