Abstract
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is associated with deficits in the recognition and expression of basic emotions, although self-reported levels of the self-conscious emotions shame and embarrassment are higher. However, one self-conscious emotion—self-disgust–which has been shown to have a negative impact on psychological wellbeing, has not been investigated in PD before. Here we employed self-report measures of self-conscious emotions, and an emotion induction paradigm involving images of the self, and narrated personal vignettes of instances when patients with PD (and controls) found themselves disgusting. We found that self-reported and induced levels of self-disgust were higher in PD patients than in matched controls, and that trait self-disgust was specifically related to disorders of impulse control in PD patients. Given the link between self-disgust and impaired psychological wellbeing, and the prevalence of anxiety and depression in PD, self-disgust might make a useful therapeutic target for psychological interventions in the condition.
Highlights
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative condition involving the dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra, classically characterised by motor symptoms [1,2]
40 PD patients and 40 matched HC were included in the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) analyses
In order to test the hypothesis that symptoms associated with PD may account for the self-disgust observed in this group, we introduced the significant correlations (p < .01) between Self-Disgust Scale (SDS)-G scores and levodopa equivalent daily dose (LEDD), BIS-Attentional, BIS-Motor, and QUIP-RS into a regression model
Summary
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative condition involving the dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra, classically characterised by motor symptoms [1,2]. A number of non-motor symptoms, such as depression, anxiety, sleep problems, and Impulse Control Disorders (ICDs), are recognised to be part of the condition [3]. Over the last two decades there has been growing interest in emotional processes in PD, as a number of studies have reported emotional disturbances in the disorder [4,5,6]. Emotional disturbances in PD may not be too surprising given the looped architecture of the basal ganglia within which the substantia nigra pars compacta operates, and the clear identification of a limbic (emotional) loop within that architecture [7]. There is consistency across studies that PD patients are less able to decode
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