The Relationship Between Facial Expression and Cognitive Function in Patients With Depression

Abstract

Objective: Considerable evidence has shown that facial expression recognition ability and cognitive function are impaired in patients with depression. We aimed to investigate the relationship between facial expression recognition and cognitive function in patients with depression.Methods: A total of 51 participants (i.e., 31 patients with depression and 20 healthy control subjects) underwent facial expression recognition tests, measuring anger, fear, disgust, sadness, happiness, and surprise. The Chinese version of the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB), which assesses seven cognitive domains, was used.Results: When compared with a control group, there were differences in the recognition of the expressions of sadness (p = 0.036), happiness (p = 0.041), and disgust (p = 0.030) in a depression group. In terms of cognitive function, the scores of patients with depression in the Trail Making Test (TMT; p < 0.001), symbol coding (p < 0.001), spatial span (p < 0.001), mazes (p = 0.007), the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test (BVMT; p = 0.001), category fluency (p = 0.029), and continuous performance test (p = 0.001) were lower than those of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant. The accuracy of sadness and disgust expression recognition in patients with depression was significantly positively correlated with cognitive function scores. The deficits in sadness expression recognition were significantly correlated with the TMT (p = 0.001, r = 0.561), symbol coding (p = 0.001, r = 0.596), maze (p = 0.015, r = 0.439), and the BVMT (p = 0.044, r = 0.370). The deficits in disgust expression recognition were significantly correlated with impairments in the TMT (p = 0.005, r = 0.501) and symbol coding (p = 0.001, r = 0.560).Conclusion: Since cognitive function is impaired in patients with depression, the ability to recognize negative facial expressions declines, which is mainly reflected in processing speed, reasoning, problem-solving, and memory.

Facial Expressions Track Depressive Symptoms in Old Age

“…This study represents a significant advancement by directly assessing nonverbal behaviors based on facial expressions. While previous research has primarily focused on facial expression recognition ability, this study takes a step forward by directly capturing individuals’ facial expressions [ 47 , 48 ]. Other studies have explored participants’ facial expressions, but they have also relied on human raters, which may introduce biases [ 49 ].…”

Gender Differences in Facial Emotion Recognition Among Adolescents Depression with Non-Suicidal Self-Injury

“…The emotion recognition task used in this project was adapted from a previous study, 37 and developed by Huilongguan Hospital in Beijing, China. Still black and white pictures of faces expressing one of the seven basic emotions (anger, calm, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise) were selected from a pre-developed Chinese facial expressions picture library.…”

The Story behind the Mask: A Narrative Review on Hypomimia in Parkinson’s Disease

“…Mood disorders are a further feature potentially influencing both emotional processing and facial expressivity. In depression, in fact, these two processes are commonly disrupted [11,91], and an association between reduced facial expressions and impaired facial emotion recognition has been described [11][12][13]. Mood disorders, including depression, apathy, and anxiety, are common non-motor features of PD, often preceding motor symptom onset [17]; therefore, this might contribute to the alteration of both facial expressions and emotional processing.…”

“…The issue is, however, of particular interest, since physiological motor control of facial muscles is significantly different from limbs [8]. Moreover, facial movements have been linked with social and emotional behavior [9,10], and facial expressions have been associated with emotion recognition and processing in several conditions, such as depression [11][12][13] and cognitive impairment [13][14][15][16]. In PD, a variety of non-motor symptoms has been described, including cognitive impairment and mood disorders [17]; therefore, the impact of hypomimia on emotional processing and social behavior, beyond the simple masked face, may be even more relevant.…”