PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Banissy, Michael J.
AU  - Garrido, Lúcia
AU  - Kusnir, Flor
AU  - Duchaine, Bradley
AU  - Walsh, Vincent
AU  - Ward, Jamie
TI  - Superior Facial Expression, But Not Identity Recognition, in Mirror-Touch Synesthesia
AID  - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5759-09.2011
DP  - 2011 Feb 02
TA  - The Journal of Neuroscience
PG  - 1820--1824
VI  - 31
IP  - 5
4099  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/31/5/1820.short
4100  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/31/5/1820.full
SO  - J. Neurosci.2011 Feb 02; 31
AB  - Simulation models of expression recognition contend that to understand another's facial expressions, individuals map the perceived expression onto the same sensorimotor representations that are active during the experience of the perceived emotion. To investigate this view, the present study examines facial expression and identity recognition abilities in a rare group of participants who show facilitated sensorimotor simulation (mirror-touch synesthetes). Mirror-touch synesthetes experience touch on their own body when observing touch to another person. These experiences have been linked to heightened sensorimotor simulation in the shared-touch network (brain regions active during the passive observation and experience of touch). Mirror-touch synesthetes outperformed nonsynesthetic participants on measures of facial expression recognition, but not on control measures of face memory or facial identity perception. These findings imply a role for sensorimotor simulation processes in the recognition of facial affect, but not facial identity.