Characterization and prediction of the recognition of emotional faces and emotional bursts in temporal lobe epilepsy.
BACKGROUND
The present study sought to characterize and predict the recognition of emotional stimuli (presented in a visual or auditory modality) by patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE).


METHODS
Fifty TLE patients and 50 matched controls performed two emotion recognition tasks (emotional faces and emotional bursts). Neutral stimuli were also presented, and emotional biases were monitored by analyzing errors. Demographic, cognitive, psychobehavioral and (in TLE patients only) clinical and quality of life data were also recorded.


RESULTS
Compared with controls, TLE patients were impaired in the recognition of fear expressions in both visual and auditory modality tasks. However, impairments in the two channels were not always concomitant on the individual level. In the visual modality, recognition of disgust and neutral expressions was significantly worse in TLE patients. In the auditory modality, nonsignificant trends toward poor recognition of disgust and neutral expressions were observed. Negative biases were noted in TLE patients; expressions of fear (faces and bursts) were more frequently misinterpreted as disgust, and neutral facial expressions were more frequently misinterpreted as sadness. Impairments in the recognition of facial fear were less pronounced in left TLE patients who (according to structural magnetic resonance imaging, MRI) did not have any brain lesions. In TLE patients, low levels of social support (a quality of life parameter) were associated with worse recognition of facial disgust, and higher levels of apathy were associated with better recognition of neutral faces.


CONCLUSIONS
TLE patients are impaired in some aspects of emotion recognition with both visual and auditory stimuli, although the differential impact of TLE on these modalities requires further research. These emotional impairments are related to quality of life and psychobehavioral parameters.
a Epilepsy Unit, Department of Clinical Neurophysiology , Lille University Medical Center , Lille , France.
Sophie
S
Hennion
William
W
Szurhaj
Alain
A
Duhamel
Renaud
R
Lopes
Louise
L
Tyvaert
Philippe
P
Derambure
Xavier
X
Delbeuck
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D004644:Emotions; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011788:Quality of Life; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*
Apathy; Emotion recognition; Emotional burst; Emotional face; Negative bias; Quality of life; Temporal lobe epilepsy