title: Facial affect recognition in myasthenia gravis.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Universidad de Deusto (Spain).
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lázaro
authors.forename: Imanol
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Amayra
authors.forename: Juan Francisco
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: López-Paz
authors.forename: Amaia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jometón
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Martín
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Caballero
authors.forename: Luís
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Nicolás
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kessler
authors.forename: Begoña
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ruiz
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Martínez
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004644:Emotions; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult