Fluctuating facial asymmetry and visual perceptive background during a tissue diagnostic histopathological

Abstract

Background. Fluctuating facial asymmetry (FFA) is accentuated throughout life and has perceptual psychological implications; tissue diagnosis shows interindividual differences at first glance, for example, in the number of fixations, but no reports are available regarding the visual perceptual background in relation to individuals with less or more FFA during the tissue diagnostic task. Materials and methods. In medical students, including 13 men (SD = 19.4 years) and 8 women (SD = 18.1 years), FFA was determined as follows: n = 9 FFA. The entire population performed tissue diagnostic analysis of normal skin and skin with squamous cell carcinoma pathology from digital images to establish the duration and number of fixations and the total time taken for diagnosis. Results. Individuals with > FFA show significant differences in the visual perceptual background during diagnostic analysis of normal and pathological skin, which are magnified by the fixation duration and the number of fixations when the tissue diagnosis is pathological. Conclusion. Compared to those with lower FFA, medical students with greater FFA performing tissue diagnosis of pathological tissue have visual perceptual backgrounds characterized by less time spent in each fixation but with more fixations.

Keywords

• facial asymmetry
• perception
• histological diagnosis