To clarify the differences between term and pre-term neonates in expressing positive emotions during the first year of life, expert coders used FACS to describe lip corner raising (AU12) and lip corner raising with cheek raising (AU6 + AU12) produced by 22 healthy newborns, 11 born pre-term (8 females) and 11 born at term (8 females). Both groups were videotaped when infants reached the 40th week of post-conceptional age. No differences were found regarding rate per minute and mean duration of Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiling. Nonetheless, significant differences in facial asymmetries between the groups emerged from the analyses. In particular, pre-term infants showed a relatively frequent leftward bias, that is a tendency to contract more rapidly and with more intensity the left hemiface rather than the right hemiface. Left biased bilateral and unilateral facial actions were very rarely observed in the full-term group where an opposite trend was recorded (rightward bias).
Different facial asymmetries in the exhibition of smiling in term and pre-term neonates at 40 weeks of post-conceptional age
DONDI, Marco;
2004
Abstract
To clarify the differences between term and pre-term neonates in expressing positive emotions during the first year of life, expert coders used FACS to describe lip corner raising (AU12) and lip corner raising with cheek raising (AU6 + AU12) produced by 22 healthy newborns, 11 born pre-term (8 females) and 11 born at term (8 females). Both groups were videotaped when infants reached the 40th week of post-conceptional age. No differences were found regarding rate per minute and mean duration of Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiling. Nonetheless, significant differences in facial asymmetries between the groups emerged from the analyses. In particular, pre-term infants showed a relatively frequent leftward bias, that is a tendency to contract more rapidly and with more intensity the left hemiface rather than the right hemiface. Left biased bilateral and unilateral facial actions were very rarely observed in the full-term group where an opposite trend was recorded (rightward bias).I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
