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Facial emotion recognition deficits are associated with hypomimia and related brain correlates in Parkinson’s disease

  • Neurology and Preclinical Neurological Studies - Original Article
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Abstract

Hypomimia is a frequent manifestation in Parkinson's disease (PD) that can affect interpersonal relationships and quality of life. Recent studies have suggested that hypomimia is not only related to motor dysfunction but also to impairment in emotional processing networks. Therefore, we hypothesized that the severity of hypomimia could be associated with performance on a task aimed at assessing facial emotion recognition. In this study, we explored the association between hypomimia, recognition of facial expressions of basic emotions using the Ekman 60 Faces Test (EF), and brain correlates of both hypomimia and performance on the EF. A total of 94 subjects underwent clinical assessments (neurological and neuropsychological examinations), and 56 of them participated in the neuroimaging study. We found significant correlation between hypomimia, EF Disgust (r = −0.242, p = 0.022) and EF Happiness (r = −0.264, p = 0.012); an independent reduction in Cortical Thickness (Cth) in the postcentral gyrus, insula, middle and superior temporal gyri, supramarginal gyrus, banks of the superior temporal sulcus, bilateral fusiform gyri, entorhinal cortex, parahippocampal gyrus, inferior and superior parietal cortex, and right cuneus and precuneus; and multiple correlations between negative emotions such as EF Disgust or EF Anger and a reduced Cth in fronto-temporo-parietal regions. In conclusion, these results suggest that the association between hypomimia and emotion recognition deficits in individuals with PD might be mediated by shared circuits, supporting the concept that hypomimia is not only the result of the dysfunction of motor circuits, but also of higher cognitive functions.

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Data availability

The data sets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the participating PwP and their caregivers for making this study possible. This work was partially supported by CERCA (CEntres de Recerca de CAtalunya) and CIBERNED (Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de enfermedades NEuroDegenerativas) funding, and grants from La Marató de TV3 [grants #2014/U/477 and #20142910], Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias (FIS) from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) [grants #PI15/00962 and #PI18/01717].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Movement Disorders Unit, Neurology Department, Sant Pau Hospital, Barcelona, Spain

    Jon Rodríguez-Antigüedad, Saül Martínez-Horta, Andrea Horta-Barba, Arnau Puig-Davi, Antonia Campolongo, Frederic Sampedro, Helena Bejr-Kasem, Javier Pagonabarraga & Jaime Kulisevsky

  2. Medicine Department, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain

    Jon Rodríguez-Antigüedad, Saül Martínez-Horta, Andrea Horta-Barba, Arnau Puig-Davi, Antonia Campolongo, Helena Bejr-Kasem, Javier Pagonabarraga & Jaime Kulisevsky

  3. Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques-Sant Pau (IIB-Sant Pau), Barcelona, Spain

    Jon Rodríguez-Antigüedad, Saül Martínez-Horta, Andrea Horta-Barba, Arnau Puig-Davi, Antonia Campolongo, Frederic Sampedro, Helena Bejr-Kasem, Javier Pagonabarraga & Jaime Kulisevsky

  4. Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), Madrid, Spain

    Jon Rodríguez-Antigüedad, Saül Martínez-Horta, Andrea Horta-Barba, Arnau Puig-Davi, Antonia Campolongo, Frederic Sampedro, Helena Bejr-Kasem, Juan Marín-Lahoz, Javier Pagonabarraga & Jaime Kulisevsky

  5. Neurology Department, Miguel Servet University Hospital, Saragossa, Spain

    Juan Marín-Lahoz

  6. Servet Neuroscience Group, Institute of Health Research of Aragon (IIS Aragón), Saragossa, Spain

    Juan Marín-Lahoz

Authors
  1. Jon Rodríguez-Antigüedad
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  2. Saül Martínez-Horta
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  3. Andrea Horta-Barba
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  4. Arnau Puig-Davi
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  5. Antonia Campolongo
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  6. Frederic Sampedro
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  7. Helena Bejr-Kasem
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  8. Juan Marín-Lahoz
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  9. Javier Pagonabarraga
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  10. Jaime Kulisevsky
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Contributions

JRA, SMH and JK contributed to the conception and design of the study. JRA, SMH and JK contributed to the analysis and interpretation of data. SMH, AHB, APD, HBK, and JML contributed to the acquisition of data. JRA wrote a first draft. SMH, AHB, APD, FS, HBK, JML, JP, and JK revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content and made the final approval of the version to be submitted.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jaime Kulisevsky.

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The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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Rodríguez-Antigüedad, J., Martínez-Horta, S., Horta-Barba, A. et al. Facial emotion recognition deficits are associated with hypomimia and related brain correlates in Parkinson’s disease. J Neural Transm (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-023-02725-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-023-02725-3

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