Subconscious Facial Expression Mimicry Is Preserved in Older Adulthood

It has been suggested that despite explicit recognition difficulties, implicit processing of facial expressions may be preserved in older adulthood. To directly test this possibility, the authors used facial electromyography to assess older (N = 40) and young (N = 46) adults' mimicry responses to angry and happy facial expressions, which were presented subliminally via a backward masking technique. The results indicated that despite not consciously perceiving the facial emotion stimuli, both groups mimicked the angry and happy facial expressions. Implications for emotion recognition difficulties in late adulthood are discussed.