TY - JOUR

T1 - Incidental retrieval of prior emotion mimicry

AU - Pawling, Ralph

AU - Kirkham, Alexander

AU - Hayes, Amy

AU - Tipper, Stephen P.

N1 - This work was supported by an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) grant [ES/K000012/1] awarded to SPT and AEH

PY - 2017/4

Y1 - 2017/4

N2 - When observing emotional expressions, similar sensorimotor states are activated in the observer, often resulting in physical mimicry. For example, when observing a smile, the zygomaticus muscles associated with smiling are activated in the observer, and when observing a frown, the corrugator brow muscles. We show that the consistency of an individual’s facial emotion, whether they always frown or smile, can be encoded into memory. When the individuals are viewed at a later time expressing no emotion, muscle mimicry of the prior state can be detected, even when the emotion itself is task irrelevant. The results support simulation accounts of memory, where prior embodiments of other’s states during encoding are reactivated when re-encountering a person.

AB - When observing emotional expressions, similar sensorimotor states are activated in the observer, often resulting in physical mimicry. For example, when observing a smile, the zygomaticus muscles associated with smiling are activated in the observer, and when observing a frown, the corrugator brow muscles. We show that the consistency of an individual’s facial emotion, whether they always frown or smile, can be encoded into memory. When the individuals are viewed at a later time expressing no emotion, muscle mimicry of the prior state can be detected, even when the emotion itself is task irrelevant. The results support simulation accounts of memory, where prior embodiments of other’s states during encoding are reactivated when re-encountering a person.

U2 - 10.1007/s00221-017-4882-y

DO - 10.1007/s00221-017-4882-y

M3 - Article

VL - 235

SP - 1173

EP - 1184

JO - Experimental Brain Research

JF - Experimental Brain Research

SN - 0014-4819

IS - 4

ER -