title: [Impact of facial emotional recognition alterations in Dementia of the Alzheimer type].
abstract: Face recognition of basic emotions is independent of other deficits in dementia of the Alzheimer type. Among these deficits, there is disagreement about what emotions are more difficult to recognize. Our aim was to study the presence of alterations in the process of facial recognition of basic emotions, and to investigate if there were differences in the recognition of each type of emotion in Alzheimer's disease. With three tests of recognition of basic facial emotions we evaluated 29 patients who had been diagnosed with dementia of the Alzheimer type and 18 control subjects. Significant differences were obtained in tests of recognition of basic facial emotions and between each. Since the amygdala, one of the brain structures responsible for emotional reaction, is affected in the early stages of this disease, our findings become relevant to understand how this alteration of the process of emotional recognition impacts the difficulties these patients have in both interpersonal relations and behavioral disorders.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Deterioro Cognitivo, Servicio de Neurología del Hospital Interzonal General de Agudos (HIGA) Eva Perón, San Martín, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. CONICET. wrubinstein@live.com.
authors.forename: Wanda
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rubinstein
authors.forename: Florencia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cossini
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Politis
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D000066499:Facial Recognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male