Facial expression recognition by people with Mobius syndrome

We present an investigation of facial expression recognition by three peopl e (BC, LP, and NC) with Mobius syndrome, a congenital disorder producing fa cial paralysis. The participants were asked to identify the emotion display ed in 10 examples of facial expressions associated with each of 6 basic emo tions from the Ekman and Friesen (1976) series. None of the three people wi th Mobius syndrome was significantly impaired on this task. On a second tes t of facial expression recognition using computer-morphed facial expression s, NC showed a statistically significant impairment, BC a borderline defici t, and LP was unimpaired. However, even when impairments were found, people with Mobius syndrome still recognised many of the facial expressions shown to them. The recognition of facial expressions by people who have never be en able to produce such signals on their own faces demonstrates that the ab ility to produce facial expressions is not a necessary prerequisite of thei r recognition.