Facial Action Coding System (FACS): an instrument for the objective evaluation of facial expression and its potential applications to the study of schizophrenia

Abstract

Affective flattening and the consequent anomalous expression of emotions are considered as key elements of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. The purpose of this work is to assess how a survey instrument based on objective evaluation of emotional facial expressiveness (FACS) and a method of elicitation of emotions (film clips) can provide psychopathological manifestations about schizophrenia. Relevant literature was identified through a search of Medline, PsychInfo and PubMed. Search terms included: "elicitation of emotions", "facial action coding system" and "schizophrenia". The research was limited to English-language publications and studies conducted exclusively in humans. The overall evaluation of the studies analyzed in this work show that the FACS is a useful tool to highlight specific clinical characteristics of schizophrenic patients with significant deficits in the expression and recognition of emotions, such as the status of hospitalization, the age of onset, the treatment with antipsychotic drugs, the SANS, SAPS and BPRS scores. Even if we have preliminary and incomplete data, the FACS and the elicitation of emotions through film clips can give an original contribution to the development of knowledge on pathophysiological events and interpretive models of schizophrenia.