Facial Emotion Recognition and Executive Functions in Insomnia Disorder: An Exploratory Study

Abstract Objective The ability to accurately identify facial expressions of emotions is crucial in human interaction. While a previous study suggested deficient emotional face recognition in patients with fibromyalgia, not much is known about the origin of this impairment. Against this background, this study investigated the role of executive functions. Executive functions refer to cognitive control mechanisms enabling implementation and coordination of basic mental operations. Deficits in this domain are prevalent in fibromyalgia. Methods Fifty-two fibromyalgia patients and thirty-two healthy individuals completed the Ekman-60 Faces Test, which requires classification of facial displays of happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise and disgust. They also completed eight tasks assessing the executive function components of shifting, updating and inhibition. Effects of comorbid depression and anxiety disorders, and medication use, were tested in stratified analyses of patient subgroups. Results Patients made more errors overall than controls in classifying the emotional expressions. Moreover, their recognition accuracy correlated positively with performance on most of the executive function tasks. Emotion recognition did not vary as a function of comorbid psychiatric disorders or medication use. Conclusions The study supports impaired facial emotion recognition in fibromyalgia, which may contribute to the interaction problems and poor social functioning characterizing this condition. Facial emotion recognition is regarded as a complex process, which may be particularly reliant on efficient coordination of various basic operations by executive functions. As such, the correlations between cognitive task performance and recognition accuracy suggest that deficits in higher cognitive functions underlie impaired emotional communication in fibromyalgia.

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Facial emotion recognition in schizophrenia: An exploratory study on the role of comorbid alcohol and substance use disorders and COMT Val158Met

Human Psychopharmacology Clinical and Experimental ◽

10.1002/hup.2630 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 32 (6) ◽

pp. e2630 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Giuseppe Carrà ◽

Gabriella Nicolini ◽

Annamaria Lax ◽

Francesco Bartoli ◽

Filippo Castellano ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Substance Use ◽

Emotion Recognition ◽

Substance Use Disorders ◽

Exploratory Study ◽

Facial Emotion Recognition ◽

Facial Emotion ◽

Comt Val158met

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The relationship between facial emotion recognition and executive functions in first-episode patients with schizophrenia and their siblings

BMC Psychiatry ◽

10.1186/s12888-015-0618-3 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Chengqing Yang ◽

Tianhong Zhang ◽

Zezhi Li ◽

Anisha Heeramun-Aubeeluck ◽

Na Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Executive Functions ◽

Emotion Recognition ◽

Facial Emotion Recognition ◽

Facial Emotion ◽

First Episode ◽

The Relationship

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Facial emotion recognition and its correlation with executive functions in bipolar I patients and healthy controls

Journal of Affective Disorders ◽

10.1016/j.jad.2013.09.027 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 152-154 ◽

pp. 288-294 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Denise Petresco David ◽

Márcio Gerhardt Soeiro-de-Souza ◽

Ricardo Alberto Moreno ◽

Danielle Soares Bio

Keyword(s):

Executive Functions ◽

Emotion Recognition ◽

Facial Emotion Recognition ◽

Facial Emotion ◽

Healthy Controls

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Facial Emotion Recognition in Children and Adolescents with Specific Learning Disorder

Brain Sciences ◽

10.3390/brainsci10080473 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. 473

Author(s):

Francesca Felicia Operto ◽

Grazia Maria Giovanna Pastorino ◽

Maria Stellato ◽

Lucia Morcaldi ◽

Luigi Vetri ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Executive Functions ◽

Emotion Recognition ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

Learning Disorders ◽

Facial Emotion Recognition ◽

Facial Emotion ◽

Control Group ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Specific Learning Disorder ◽

Specific Learning

Background: Some recent studies suggest that children and adolescents with different neurodevelopmental disorders perform worse in emotions recognition through facial expressions (ER) compared with typically developing peers. This impairment is also described in children with Specific Learning Disorders (SLD), compromising their scholastic achievement, social functioning, and quality of life. The purpose of our study is to evaluate ER skills in children and adolescents with SLD compared to a control group without learning disorders, and correlate them with intelligence and executive functions. Materials and Methods: Our work is a cross-sectional observational study. Sixty-three children and adolescents aged between 8 and 16 years, diagnosed with SLD, and 32 sex/age-matched controls without learning disorders were recruited. All participants were administered standardized neuropsychological tests, evaluating facial emotion recognition (NEPSY-II), executive functions (EpiTrack Junior), and intelligence profile (WISC-IV). Results: Emotion recognition mean score was significantly lower in the SLD group than in the controls group on the Mann–Whitney U test for unpaired samples (p < 0.001). The SLD group performed significantly lower than the control group in their abilities to identify neutral expressions, happiness, sadness, anger, and fear compared to controls (p < 0.001). ER scores were positively correlated to the executive functions scores. There was no correlation with the Total Intelligence Quotient scores but there is a significant positive correlation with Working Memory Index and Processing Speed Index measured by WISC.IV. Conclusion: Our study showed that children and adolescents with Specific Learning Disorders have facial emotion recognition impairment when compared with a group of peers without learning disorders. ER abilities were independent of their global intelligence but potentially related to executive functions.

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An Exploratory Study on Facial Emotion Recognition Capacity in Beginning Alzheimer’s Disease

European Neurology ◽

10.1159/000327979 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 65 (6) ◽

pp. 361-367 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Marzanna Wiechetek Ostos ◽

Françoise Schenk ◽

Tania Baenziger ◽

Armin von Gunten

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Emotion Recognition ◽

Exploratory Study ◽

Facial Emotion Recognition ◽

Facial Emotion

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Beeinträchtigtes Erkennen emotionaler Gesichtsausdrücke durch psychiatrische Patientinnen bei Alexithymie

Zeitschrift für Psychiatrie Psychologie und Psychotherapie ◽

10.1024/1661-4747/a000135 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 61 (1) ◽

pp. 7-15 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Daniel Dittrich ◽

Gregor Domes ◽

Susi Loebel ◽

Christoph Berger ◽

Carsten Spitzer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Emotion Recognition ◽

Emotional Expression ◽

Depression Scale ◽

Facial Emotion Recognition ◽

Facial Emotion ◽

Check List ◽

Psychosomatische Erkrankungen ◽

Psychiatrische Patienten ◽

Symptom Check List ◽

Tas 20

Die vorliegende Studie untersucht die Hypothese eines mit Alexithymie assoziierten Defizits beim Erkennen emotionaler Gesichtsaudrücke an einer klinischen Population. Darüber hinaus werden Hypothesen zur Bedeutung spezifischer Emotionsqualitäten sowie zu Gender-Unterschieden getestet. 68 ambulante und stationäre psychiatrische Patienten (44 Frauen und 24 Männer) wurden mit der Toronto-Alexithymie-Skala (TAS-20), der Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Scale (MADRS), der Symptom-Check-List (SCL-90-R) und der Emotional Expression Multimorph Task (EEMT) untersucht. Als Stimuli des Gesichtererkennungsparadigmas dienten Gesichtsausdrücke von Basisemotionen nach Ekman und Friesen, die zu Sequenzen mit sich graduell steigernder Ausdrucksstärke angeordnet waren. Mittels multipler Regressionsanalyse untersuchten wir die Assoziation von TAS-20 Punktzahl und facial emotion recognition (FER). Während sich für die Gesamtstichprobe und den männlichen Stichprobenteil kein signifikanter Zusammenhang zwischen TAS-20-Punktzahl und FER zeigte, sahen wir im weiblichen Stichprobenteil durch die TAS-20 Punktzahl eine signifikante Prädiktion der Gesamtfehlerzahl (β = .38, t = 2.055, p < 0.05) und den Fehlern im Erkennen der Emotionen Wut und Ekel (Wut: β = .40, t = 2.240, p < 0.05, Ekel: β = .41, t = 2.214, p < 0.05). Für wütende Gesichter betrug die Varianzaufklärung durch die TAS-20-Punktzahl 13.3 %, für angeekelte Gesichter 19.7 %. Kein Zusammenhang bestand zwischen der Zeit, nach der die Probanden die emotionalen Sequenzen stoppten, um ihre Bewertung abzugeben (Antwortlatenz) und Alexithymie. Die Ergebnisse der Arbeit unterstützen das Vorliegen eines mit Alexithymie assoziierten Defizits im Erkennen emotionaler Gesichtsausdrücke bei weiblchen Probanden in einer heterogenen, klinischen Stichprobe. Dieses Defizit könnte die Schwierigkeiten Hochalexithymer im Bereich sozialer Interaktionen zumindest teilweise begründen und so eine Prädisposition für psychische sowie psychosomatische Erkrankungen erklären.

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