The recognition of facial emotions in bipolar disorder

Abstract

Introduction Bipolar disorder is a common chronic psychiatric disorder, marked by the severity and frequency of mood episodes and their impact on the psychosocial functioning of these patients. Even during inter-critical periods, these patients' cognitive functions are altered. Patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder, by definition, have problems with emotional regulation. However, it remains uncertain whether these patients also have a deficit in processing emotions of others. The main objective was to assess social cognition (recognition of facial emotions) in euthymic bipolar subjects by comparing them to a control group. Methodology This is a transversal case-witness study, conducted in consultation with the post-treatment, of 30 euthymic bipolar patients and 30 healthy volunteers matched for age, sex and educational level, with the help of a questionnaire targeting socio-demographic and clinical data, as well as a facial expression recognition test to measure social cognition. Results Our study showed that bipolar patients had deficits in social cognition compared to the volunteers' group. Bipolar patients have more difficulties than healthy subjects to recognize facial emotions of fear, anger and disgust, and assign intentions to others from images. These deficits are even more accentuated in the early onset forms. Conclusion This study shows a disturbance of perception of emotions in bipolar patients. These cognitive deficits could participate in behavioral and social disorders present in bipolar disorder.