Facial Muscle Patterning to Affective Imagery in Depressed and Nondepressed Subjects

Abstract

When subjects imagine happy, sad, and angry situations, different patterns of facial muscle activity are produced which can be measured by electromyography. These subtle, typically covert, facial expression patterns differentiate depressed from nondepressed subjects. Facial electromyography can provide a sensitive, objective index of normal and clinical mood states.