In The News

A Rutgers-led study examines how detecting microscopic facial movements, previously overlooked, are key to enhancing emotional recognition in autistic individuals. A study led by Rutgers University–New Brunswick researchers suggests that tiny facial movements too slight for the human eye to notice – could help scientists better understand social communication in people with autism. Published in Frontiers in Psychiatry, the study found that while individuals with autism express emotions like everyone else, their facial expressions may be too subtle for the human eye to detect. “Autistic individuals use the same basic facial movements to express emotions, but their intensity often falls outside the culturally familiar range that most people recognize,” said Elizabeth Torres, a psychology professor at the Rutgers–New Brunswick School of Arts and Sciences. “This disconnect can lead to missed social cues, causing others to overlook or misinterpret their emotions.”