The Universality of Facial Expression and Recognition in Normal and Disordered Communication: A Review of the Literature

Abstract

This review of the literature focuses on facial expression as a significant aspect of communication. Many basic expressions of emotion such as fear, anger, sadness, disgust, and happiness are universal. Some more subtle expressions are learned and may be culture-specific or idiosyncratic but the basic ones are found in all humans. Infants around the world follow a similar timetable based on neurologic maturation in development of production and recognition of facial expression. Babies who are blind spontaneously develop the same expressions even without the ability to view them in others. As speech-language pathologists, we encounter individuals who cannot produce normal facial expressions of emotion. These might include people with Mobius syndrome and others with facial paralysis, facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, poststroke paresis, and Parkinson's disease. Children in our caseloads with autism, Williams and velocardiofacial syndromes, and learning disabilities have problems in recognition, rather than production, which often leads to pragmatic difficulties. Adults poststroke, with traumatic brain injury, or progressive dementia may also show an inability to recognize expression, which may result in misinterpretation of everyday situations. Traditional methods and computerized training programs attempt to improve production and interpretation of expression.