Monitoring the emotional facial reactions of individuals with antisocial personality disorder during the retrieval of self-defining memories

PLoS One. 2022 Jun 8;17(6):e0268818. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0268818. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

While a deficit in the recognition of facial expression has been demonstrated in persons with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), few studies have investigated how individuals with ASPD produce their own emotional facial expressions. This study examines the production of facial emotional expressions of male inpatients with ASPD in a forensic hospital compared with a control group as they retrieve autobiographical memories. This design constitutes a specific ecological experimental approach fostering the evocation of personal feelings. Two indicators characterizing the activation of facial expression were used: activation of emotional action units and emotional dominance. The results showed that individuals with ASPD 1) activated angrier facial expressions than control participants for both indicators, 2) displayed a higher dominance of angry facial expressions during the retrieval of positive self-defining memories than control participants and 3) recalled significant memories that were less associated with neutral facial states than the control sample, regardless of the valence of their memories. These findings highlight the core role of anger in ASPD and the possible development of pathological anger, which would distinguish trajectories toward anxious or mood disorders and trajectories characterized by external disorders.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Anger
  • Antisocial Personality Disorder* / psychology
  • Emotions / physiology
  • Facial Expression*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mental Recall / physiology

Grants and funding

This work was funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR-11-EQPX-0023) and was also supported by European funding through the program FEDER SCV-IrDIVE.