Facial expressions and flat affect in schizophrenia, automatic analysis from depth camera data

Talia Tron, Abraham Peled, Alexander Grinsphoon, Daphna Weinshall

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

One of the prominent clinical manifestations of schizophrenia is flat or altered facial activity, and flattening of emotional expressiveness (Flat Affect). In this study we used a structured-light depth camera and dedicated software to automatically measure the facial activity of schizophrenia patients and healthy individuals during a short structured interview. Based on K-means clustering analysis, facial activity was characterized in terms of Typicality, Richness and Distribution of 7 facial-clusters. Thus we found patients' facial activity to be poorer, more typical, and characterized mainly by neutral (flat) expressions. The facial features defined in our study achieved up to 85% correct diagnosis classification rate in a SVM based two-step algorithm, and were in significant correlation with Flat Affect severity. Our results demonstrate how the use of assistive technology and data-driven computational tools allow for a comprehensive description of patients' facial behavior in clinical settings, and may contribute to the reliability and accuracy of psychiatric diagnosis.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication3rd IEEE EMBS International Conference on Biomedical and Health Informatics, BHI 2016
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages220-223
Number of pages4
ISBN (Electronic)9781509024551
DOIs
StatePublished - 18 Apr 2016
Event3rd IEEE EMBS International Conference on Biomedical and Health Informatics, BHI 2016 - Las Vegas, United States
Duration: 24 Feb 201627 Feb 2016

Publication series

Name3rd IEEE EMBS International Conference on Biomedical and Health Informatics, BHI 2016

Conference

Conference3rd IEEE EMBS International Conference on Biomedical and Health Informatics, BHI 2016
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityLas Vegas
Period24/02/1627/02/16

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 IEEE.

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