Working memory and facial expression recognition in patients with Parkinson's disease.
Facial expression recognition impairment has been reported in Parkinson's disease. While some authors have referred to specific emotional disabilities, others view them as secondary to executive deficits frequently described in the disease, such as working memory. The present study aims to analyze the relationship between working memory and facial expression recognition abilities in Parkinson's disease. We observed 50 patients with Parkinson's disease and 49 healthy controls by means of an n-back procedure with four types of stimuli: emotional facial expressions, gender, spatial locations, and non-sense syllables. Other executive and visuospatial neuropsychological tests were also administered. Results showed that Parkinson's disease patients with high levels of disability performed worse than healthy individuals on the emotional facial expression and spatial location tasks. Moreover, spatial location task performance was correlated with executive neuropsychological scores, but emotional facial expression was not. Thus, working memory seems to be altered in Parkinson's disease, particularly in tasks that involve the appreciation of spatial relationships in stimuli. Additionally, non-executive, facial emotional recognition difficulty seems to be present and related to disease progression.
1Facultad de Psicología,Universidad a Distancia de Madrid,Collado Villalba,Madrid,Spain.
Laura
L
Alonso-Recio
2Departamento de Psicología Biológica y de la Salud, Facultad de Psicología,Universidad Autónoma de Madrid,Madrid,Spain.
Pilar
P
Martín-Plasencia
2Departamento de Psicología Biológica y de la Salud, Facultad de Psicología,Universidad Autónoma de Madrid,Madrid,Spain.
Ángela
Á
Loeches-Alonso
2Departamento de Psicología Biológica y de la Salud, Facultad de Psicología,Universidad Autónoma de Madrid,Madrid,Spain.
Juan M
JM
Serrano-Rodríguez
D000368:Aged; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D013028:Space Perception