Facial affect recognition in myasthenia gravis

Esther Lázaro Pérez ^[2] ; Imanol Amayra Caro ^[2] ; Juan Francisco López Paz ^[2] ; Amaia Jometón ^[2] ; Natalia Martín Rivera ^[1] ; Patricia Caballero ^[2] ; Luis de Nicolás y Martínez ^[2] ; Holger Hoffmann ^[3] ; Henrik Kessler ^[3] ; Bego Ruiz ^[4] ; Óscar Martínez ^[2]
1. [1] Universidad de Valladolid
  
  Universidad de Valladolid
  
  Valladolid, España
2. [2] Universidad de Deusto
  
  Universidad de Deusto
  
  Bilbao, España
3. [3] University Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy
4. [4] Centro de Referencia Estatal de Enfermedades Raras
Mostrar afiliaciones +
Localización: The Spanish Journal of Psychology, ISSN 1138-7416, Nº. 16, 2013, págs. 1-7
Idioma: inglés
Enlaces
- Texto completo

Resumen
- The assessment of facial expression is an important aspect of a clinical neurological examination, both as an indicator of a mood disorder and as a sign of neurological damage. To date, although studies have been conducted on certain psychosocial aspects of myasthenia, such as quality of life and anxiety, and on neuropsychological aspects such as memory, no studies have directly assessed facial emotion recognition accuracy. The aim of this study was to assess the facial emotion recognition accuracy (fear, surprise, sadness, happiness, anger, and disgust), empathy, and reaction time of patients with myasthenia. Thirty-five patients with myasthenia and 36 healthy controls were tested for their ability to differentiate emotional facial expressions. Participants were matched with respect to age, gender, and education level. Their ability to differentiate emotional facial expressions was evaluated using the computer-based program Feel Test. The data showed that myasthenic patients scored significantly lower (p < 0.05) than healthy controls in the total Feel score, fear, surprise, and higher reaction time. The findings suggest that the ability to recognize facial affect may be reduced in individuals with myasthenia.