Facial Paralysis And Emotional Attachment

Facial expressions are a fundamental part of human social interactions. They are also very important for correctly interpreting the feelings of others. Consequently, people with facial paralysis may have problems with superficial social interactions as well as with genuine emotional connections. One problem for people with facial paralysis is difficulties with emotional attachment.

Studies show that facial expressions are innate and universal patterns of behavior. Researchers have proven this by doing experiments comparing facial expressions in blind children with children who have normal vision. Among other things, transcultural studies have been taken into account.

The researchers have found that there are more similarities than differences between facial expressions within different groups. In addition, study participants showed an ease of recognizing facial expressions in people from other groups.

You express emotions, and also mimic special facial expressions that correspond to specific emotions, using the muscles in your face. Facial movements are controlled by two independent circuits. Depending on whether what you want to express is self-experienced or imitated, it determines which circuit your brain activates.

Facial paralysis that affects emotional expression

This type of paralysis is due to an injury to the insular area, the white matter in the frontal lobe, the thalamus, and the left hemisphere. This system is associated with the physical architecture that is responsible for the voluntary movements of the facial muscles. It connects to the medulla oblongata and the protruding caudal area.

Damage to this system leads to an inability to express genuine feelings on the side of the face opposite the injury. In this case, this is the right side of the face.

However, people with this type of paralysis still have the ability to reproduce (or falsify) all types of facial expressions on both sides of the face.

Acquired facial paralysis

Individuals with acquired facial paralysis cannot touch the facial muscles when they are consciously trying to show emotion. The side of the face that is the opposite of the injury does not respond to the brain’s signal to create a specific facial expression.

When the feelings are genuine, the facial muscles on both sides of the face respond normally. People with acquired facial paralysis are unable to properly imitate a feeling they do not actually feel.

Damage to the right hemisphere, the primary motor cortex, is the cause of this damage. Specifically the area that corresponds to the face. Damage to the fibers that connect the anterior region to the muscles of the face can also cause this problem (including the right hemisphere).

A neuroradiological study has shown that observation and imitation of emotional expression triggers an increase in the activity of the mirror neurons. It leads to a more empathetic behavior towards and better relationships with other people.

However, the fact that the ability to reproduce other people’s facial expressions helps with emotional attachment does not mean that people with facial paralysis are completely incapable of doing so. It just means that they can experience greater difficulties than most others.

The role of facial expressions for emotional attachment

As we have already mentioned, emotional expressions allow you to communicate with the world around you. Still, this feature only makes sense if other people can understand the emotional state we want to express, as well as respond appropriately.

The right hemisphere has a greater connection to emotional attachment than the left. As a result, people with damage to the right brain have difficulty with emotional expression.

However, several areas of the brain are involved in emotional expression, such as the amygdala, prefrontal cortex, mirror neurons, etc. However, we will focus on mirror neurons and the role that imitation plays in emotional recognition.

When you see another person’s emotional expression, your brain automatically, unconsciously and imperceptibly reproduces the same feeling.

Mirror neurons

Seeing facial expressions in others activates your mirror neurons, and they cause you to imitate these expressions. The feedback that happens when you imitate a facial expression is what allows you to understand how other people feel, and it in turn makes you feel empathy for them.

In addition to acquired facial paralysis, there is also another type of facial paralysis. This shows in particular the relationship between emotional expression and recognition. It is called Möbius syndrome. This type of paralysis also affects emotional facial expressions and emotional attachment.

How facial paralysis and lack of emotional connection affect life

Facial expressions allow you to engage in non-verbal communication, which enriches the words you utter.

By interpreting other people’s facial expressions, you can also derive their needs or desires. This often happens before you have time to interpret them via other channels. In other words, facial expressions make us the most intelligent beings on the social plane.

If you can not recognize the facial expressions in your environment, it can make relationships very difficult. Not only that, but the inability or difficulty to accurately express what you are feeling is a challenge for everyone around you.

Fortunately, there are other means of communication available, even for people with facial paralysis. There are, of course, spoken languages ​​as well as other alternative forms of non-verbal expression. Imitation and prosody can also help compensate for problems that arise due to facial paralysis.