title: Impaired recognition of happy facial expressions in bipolar disorder.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The ability to accurately judge facial expressions is important in social interactions. Individuals with bipolar disorder have been found to be impaired in emotion recognition; however, the specifics of the impairment are unclear. This study investigated whether facial emotion recognition difficulties in bipolar disorder reflect general cognitive, or emotion-specific, impairments. Impairment in the recognition of particular emotions and the role of processing speed in facial emotion recognition were also investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinically stable bipolar patients (n = 17) and healthy controls (n = 50) judged five facial expressions in two presentation types, time-limited and self-paced. An age recognition condition was used as an experimental control.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Bipolar patients' overall facial recognition ability was unimpaired. However, patients' specific ability to judge happy expressions under time constraints was impaired.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings suggest a deficit in happy emotion recognition impacted by processing speed. Given the limited sample size, further investigation with a larger patient sample is warranted.
authors.affiliation: 1Clinical Neuroscience of Schizophrenia Laboratory,Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry,Hotchkiss Brain Institute,University of Calgary,Calgary,AB,Canada.
authors.forename: Linette
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lawlor-Savage
authors.affiliation: 2Minneapolis Veteran's Affairs Health Care System,Minneapolis,MN,USA.
authors.forename: Scott R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Sponheim
authors.affiliation: 1Clinical Neuroscience of Schizophrenia Laboratory,Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry,Hotchkiss Brain Institute,University of Calgary,Calgary,AB,Canada.
authors.forename: Vina M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Goghari
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006240:Happiness; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D021641:Recognition, Psychology