Impaired Emotion Recognition Research Articles

Basic auditory processing and emotion recognition in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis

The ability to understand others' emotions from subtle cues is a critical skill for navigating the complex social world, with increasing demands placed on this capability as children enter adolescence. Individuals at clinical high-risk (CHR) of developing psychosis exhibit social isolation with specific impairments in social cognition (Thompson et al., 2011) and emotion recognition (Addington et al., 2008; Amminger et al., 2011; Corcoran et al., 2015). The degree of social impairment and the severity of emotion recognition deficits are greater in individuals who later convert to psychosis than in those who do not (Cornblatt et al., 2011). Emotion recognition deficits thus represent promising targets for improving early identification and intervention strategies (Addington et al., 2008; Amminger et al., 2011; Cornblatt et al., 2011; Kee et al., 2003; Niemi et al., 2005). A significant challenge remains however, to identify a precursor of emotional recognition deficits for use as a salient diagnostic tool and therapeutic target. Impairments in basic auditory processes may underlie the auditory emotion identification deficits and social functioning deficits associated with psychotic disorders and at-risk states. The auditory properties of speech convey emotional content (Banse and Scherer, 1996; Hammerschmidt and Jurgens, 2007), and the ability to identify emotion from these vocal cues is impaired in schizophrenia (Addington et al., 2008; Amminger et al., 2011; Bach et al., 2009; Corcoran et al., 2015; Cornblatt et al., 2011; Dickey et al., 2010; Dickey et al., 2008; Kee et al., 2003; Leitman et al., 2007; Leitman et al., 2010; Niemi et al., 2005; Thompson et al., 2011), schizotypal personality disorder (Dickey et al., 2010; Dickey et al., 2008), and CHR subjects (Corcoran et al., 2015; Thompson et al., 2011). We recently reported that individuals with schizophrenia exhibit wide ranging basic auditory processing deficits, and that additional basic auditory processing abilities, including formant discrimination, sinusoidal amplitude modulation detection, and duration discrimination are associated with the ability to recognize emotion in voice (Kraus et al., 2019). In this study, we have aimed to determine whether CHR individuals exhibit similar widespread auditory processing deficits associated with impaired emotion recognition.

Characterization of facial emotion recognition in bipolar disorder: Focus on emotion mislabelling and neutral expressions.

Increasing evidence suggests that facial emotion recognition is impaired in bipolar disorder (BD). However, patient-control differences are small owing to ceiling effects on the tasks used to assess them. The extant literature is also limited by a relative absence of attention towards identifying patterns of emotion misattribution or understanding whether neutral faces are mislabelled in the same way as ones displaying emotion. We addressed these limitations by comparing facial emotion recognition performance in BD patients and healthy controls on a novel and challenging task. Thirty-four outpatients with BD I and 32 demographically matched healthy controls completed a facial emotion recognition task requiring the labelling of neutral and emotive faces displayed at low emotional intensities. Results indicated that BD patients were significantly less accurate at labelling faces than healthy controls, particularly if they displayed fear or neutral expressions. There were no between-group differences in response times or patterns of emotion mislabelling, with both groups confusing sad and neutral faces, although BD patients also mislabelled sad faces as angry. Task performance did not significantly correlate with mood symptom severity in the BD group. These findings suggest that facial emotion recognition impairments in BD extend to neutral face recognition. Emotion misattribution occurs in a similar, albeit exaggerated manner in patients with BD compared to healthy controls. Future behavioural and neuroimaging research should reconsider the use of neutral faces as baseline stimuli in their task designs.

Eye Direction Detection and Perception as Premises of a Social Brain: A Narrative Review of Behavioral and Neural Data.

The eyes and the gaze are important stimuli for social interaction in humans. Impaired recognition of facial identity, facial emotions, and inference of the intentions of others may result from difficulties in extracting information relevant to the eye region, mainly the direction of gaze. Therefore, a review of these data is of interest. Behavioral data demonstrating the importance of the eye region and how humans respond to gaze direction are reviewed narratively, and several theoretical models on how visual information on gaze is processed are discussed to propose a unified hypothesis. Several issues that have not yet been investigated are identified. The authors tentatively suggest experiments that might help progress research in this area. The neural aspects are subsequently reviewed to best describe the low-level and higher-level visual information processing stages in the targeted subcortical and cortical areas. A specific neural network is proposed on the basis of the literature. Various gray areas, such as the temporality of the processing of visual information, the question of salience priority, and the coordination between the two hemispheres, remain unclear and require further investigations. Finally, disordered gaze direction detection mechanisms and their consequences on social cognition and behavior are discussed as key deficiencies in several conditions, such as autism spectrum disorder, 22q11.2 deletion, schizophrenia, and social anxiety disorder. This narrative review provides significant additional data showing that the detection and perception of someone's gaze is an essential part of the development of our social brain.

Lesions and reduced working memory impair emotion recognition in self and others

ABSTRACT Emotion recognition (ER) can be conceived of as an integration of affective cues in working memory. We examined whether reduced working memory capacity and brain lesions in neural networks involved in emotion processing interactively impair ER of both one’s own and another person’s emotions. To assess the recognition of one’s own and other’s emotions, pictures from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) and facial expressions from the Karolinska Directed Emotional Faces (KDEF) database representing fear, anger, disgust, and sadness were presented to 40 lesioned patients and 40 healthy students. To manipulate working memory, a math task was imposed between exposure to the stimuli and collection of responses. Participants indicated the intensity of each of the four emotions for each picture. ER was computed as the difference between trials where the elicited emotion matched the requested emotion and trials where the elicited and requested emotions did not match. Whereas lesions impaired ER in both self and others, working memory load exclusively decreased recognition of other persons’ emotions.

Do developmental prosopagnosics with high vs. low levels of autism traits differ in how they process faces?

Developmental prosopagnosia (DP) studies have routinely excluded individuals with high autism traits, assuming that DPs with high levels of autism traits have qualitatively different mechanisms of face recognition impairment, e.g., caused by social motivational factors. Indeed, autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are associated with face recognition memory and face emotion processing deficits but largely unimpaired face perception and holistic face processing abilities, whereas DPs without ASD have shown face perception and holistic processing deficits in addition to face memory deficits. To investigate the relationship between autism traits and face processing in DP, we administered a large behavioral battery and a face/scene/object/body fMRI localizer to 43 DPs with a wide range of Autism Quotient (AQ) scores as well as 27 healthy controls. When comparing the high (n=15; met broader autism phenotype classification) and low (n=28) AQ DP groups (AQ: 28.33 vs. 14.50; p<.001), we found a similar pattern across face processing tasks, with no differences in face matching (Cambridge Face Perception Test; p=.617), holistic face processing (Inversion effect: p=.644; Part-whole effect: p=.170), featural processing (Eyes: p=.643; Mouth: p=.984), or face memory (Cambridge Face Memory Test; p=.598). Both DP groups performed significantly worse on the face processing tasks compared to the control group (p’s<.05), with the exception of the mouth composite. As expected, the higher AQ group showed significantly decreased face emotion recognition compared to the low AQ group (p=.028). During the fMRI localizer task, both DP groups showed similarly reduced face selectivity in the left occipital and fusiform face areas compared to controls. Notably, the higher AQ DPs also showed decreased face selectivity in the bilateral posterior superior temporal sulcus compared to the lower AQ DPs. These results suggest that high autism traits do not result in qualitatively different face processing in DPs, but are associated with greater face emotion recognition impairments.

Facial Expression Processing of Children Orphaned by Parental HIV/AIDS: A Cross-Sectional ERP Study with Rapid Serial Visual Presentation.

Existing behavioral studies have suggested that individuals with early life stress usually show abnormal emotional processing. However, limited event-related brain potentials (ERPs) evidence was available to explore the emotional processes in children orphaned by parental HIV/AIDS (“AIDS orphans”). The current study aims to investigate whether there are behavioral and neurological obstacles in the recognition of emotional faces in AIDS orphans and also to further explore the processing stage at which the difference in facial emotion recognition exists. A total of 81 AIDS orphans and 60 non-orphan children were recruited through the local communities and school systems in Henan, China. Participants completed a computer version of the rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task while recording ERPs. Behavioral results showed that orphans displayed higher response accuracy and shorter reaction time than the control (ps < 0.05). As for the ERPs analysis, the attenuated amplitude of N170 (i.e., an early component sensitive to facial configuration) was observed in AIDS orphans compared to the non-orphan control with happy and neutral faces; P300 (i.e., an endogenous component for affective valence evaluation in emotional processing) also showed significant differences in parietal lobe between groups, the non-orphan control group produced larger P300 amplitudes than orphans (p < 0.05). The results suggested that compared to the control group, AIDS orphans showed impaired facial emotion recognition ability with reduced brain activation.

Subnormal short-latency facial mimicry responses to dynamic emotional facial expressions in male adolescents with disruptive behavior disorders and callous-unemotional traits.

Using still pictures of emotional facial expressions as experimental stimuli, reduced amygdala responses or impaired recognition of basic emotions were repeatedly found in people with psychopathic traits. The amygdala also plays an important role in short‐latency facial mimicry responses. Since dynamic emotional facial expressions may have higher ecological validity than still pictures, we compared short‐latency facial mimicry responses to dynamic and static emotional expressions between adolescents with psychopathic traits and normal controls. Facial EMG responses to videos or still pictures of emotional expressions (happiness, anger, sadness, fear) were measured. Responses to 500‐ms dynamic expressions in videos, as well as the subsequent 1500‐ms phase of maximal (i.e., static) expression, were compared between male adolescents with disruptive behavior disorders and high (n = 14) or low (n = 17) callous‐unemotional (CU) traits, and normal control subjects (n = 32). Responses to still pictures were also compared between groups. EMG responses to dynamic expressions were generally significantly smaller in the high‐CU group than in the other two groups, which generally did not differ. These group differences gradually emerged during the 500‐ms stimulus presentation period but in general they were already seen a few hundred milliseconds after stimulus onset. Group differences were absent during the 1500‐ms phase of maximal expression and during exposure to still pictures. Subnormal short‐latency mimicry responses to dynamic emotional facial expressions in the high‐CU group might have negative consequences for understanding emotional facial expressions of others during daily life when human facial interactions are primarily dynamic.

Cognitive behavioral intervention for improving emotion recognition among individuals with substance use disorders: A randomized-controlled pilot study in a naturalistic setting

Individuals with substance use disorders (SUD) experience impaired facial emotion recognition. This pilot study explored the efficacy of a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) intervention to improve facial cues interpretation. Twenty-four men with SUD were randomized into an equal-size experimental and control groups and were evaluated by a cognitive-assessment battery at baseline and post-intervention. Post-intervention individuals in the experimental group recognized happy expressions with higher accuracy, and their response times were slower in sadness/disgust/neutral expressions. Interventions focused at improving social cues interpretation may facilitate social interactions and treatment outcomes for SUD population.

Autonomic factors do not underlie the elevated self-disgust levels in Parkinson's disease.

IntroductionParkinson’s disease (PD) is manifested along with non-motor symptoms such as impairments in basic emotion regulation, recognition and expression. Yet, self-conscious emotion (SCEs) such as self-disgust, guilt and shame are under-investigated. Our previous research indicated that Parkinson patients have elevated levels of self-reported and induced self-disgust. However, the cause of that elevation–whether lower level biophysiological factors, or higher level cognitive factors, is unknown.MethodsTo explore the former, we analysed Skin Conductance Response (SCR, measuring sympathetic activity) amplitude and high frequency Heart Rate Variability (HRV, measuring parasympathetic activity) across two emotion induction paradigms, one involving narrations of personal experiences of self-disgust, shame and guilt, and one targeting self-disgust selectively via images of the self. Both paradigms had a neutral condition.ResultsPhoto paradigm elicited significant changes in physiological responses in patients relative to controls—higher percentages of HRV in the high frequency range but lower SCR amplitudes, with patients to present lower responses compared to controls. In the narration paradigm, only guilt condition elicited significant SCR differences between groups.ConclusionsConsequently, lower level biophysiological factors are unlikely to cause elevated self-disgust levels in Parkinson’s disease, which by implication suggests that higher level cognitive factors may be responsible.

Impaired Recognition of Static and Dynamic Facial Emotions in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder Using Stimuli of Varying Intensities, Different Genders, and Age Ranges Faces.

A multitude of research on facial emotion recognition (FER) in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have been published since several years. However, these studies have mainly used static high intensity stimuli, including adult and/or children facial emotions. This current study investigated FER in children with ASD using an innovative task, composed of a combination of static (114 pictures) and dynamic (36 videos) subtests, including children, adolescent, and adult male and female faces, with high, medium, and low intensity of basic facial emotions, and neutral expression. The ASD group consisted of 45 Tunisian verbal children, and the control group consisted of 117 tunisian typically developing children. Both groups were aged 7–12 years. After adjusting for sex, age, mental age, and school grade, the ASD group scored lower than controls on all tests except for the recognition of happiness and fear in the static subtest, and the recognition of happiness, fear, and sadness in the dynamic subtest (p ≥ 0.05). In the ASD group, the total score of both the static and the dynamic subtest were positively correlated with the school grade (p < 0.001), but not with age, or mental age. Children with ASD performed better in recognizing facial emotions in children than in adults and adolescents on videos and photos (p < 0.001). Impairments in FER would have negative impact on the child's social development. Thus, the creation of new intervention instruments aiming to improve emotion recognition strategies at an early stage to individuals with ASD seems fundamental.

Research on Emotion Recognition and Dementias: Foundations and Prospects.

The study of emotion recognition could be crucial for detecting alterations in certain cognitive areas or as an early sign of neurological disorders. The main objective of the study is to characterize research development on emotion recognition, identifying the intellectual structure that supports this area of knowledge, and the main lines of research attracting investigators' interest. We identified publications on emotion recognition and dementia included in the Web of Science Core Collection, analyzing the scientific output and main disciplines involved in generating knowledge in the area. A co-citation analysis and an analysis of the bibliographic coupling between the retrieved documents elucidated the thematic orientations of the research and the reference works that constitute the foundation for development in the field. A total of 345 documents, with 24,282 bibliographic references between them, were included. This is an emerging research area, attracting the interest of investigators in Neurosciences, Psychology, Clinical Neurology, and Psychiatry, among other disciplines. Four prominent topic areas were identified, linked to frontotemporal dementia, autism spectrum disorders, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's and Huntington disease. Many recent papers focus on the detection of mild cognitive impairment. Impaired emotion recognition may be a key sign facilitating the diagnosis and early treatment of different neurodegenerative diseases as well as for triggering the necessary provision of social and family support, explaining the growing research interest in this area.

Gender moderates the association between acute alcohol intoxication and facial emotion recognition in a naturalistic field study setting.

Alcohol intoxication is associated with significant negative social consequences. Social information processing theory provides a framework for understanding how the accurate decoding and interpretation of social cues are critical for effective social responding. Acute intoxication has the potential to disrupt facial emotion recognition. If alcohol impairs the processing and interpretation of emotional cues, then the resultant behavioral responses may be less effective. The current study tested the association between alcohol intoxication and facial emotion recognition in a naturalistic field study of intoxicated participants. 114 participants (59.4% men; Mage =24.2years) who had been consuming alcohol were recruited in the downtown area of a mid-size town surrounded by several drinking establishments in the mid-southern United States. Participants were shown images depicting 5 facial displays of emotions (happy, sad, anger, disgust, and no emotion) portrayed by 1male and 1 female actor per emotion and breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) was measured by the field breathalyzer test (M=0.078%, SD=0.052). BrAC was significantly negatively associated with emotion recognition accuracy when controlling for average alcohol use, B=-.35, t=-2.08, p<0.05, F(3, 110)=5.28, p<0.01, R2 =0.13. A significant BrAC×gender interaction was revealed, B=-0.39, t=-2.07, p=0.04, ΔR2 =0.033, p=0.04, such that men (but not women) displayed a significant negative association between BrAC and emotion recognition accuracy. Acute intoxication was associated with impaired facial emotion recognition, particularly for men, in a field study context. Findings support and extend some previous experimental laboratory-based research and suggest that intoxication can impair the decoding stage of social information processing.

Neural network modeling of altered facial expression recognition in autism spectrum disorders based on predictive processing framework

The mechanism underlying the emergence of emotional categories from visual facial expression information during the developmental process is largely unknown. Therefore, this study proposes a system-level explanation for understanding the facial emotion recognition process and its alteration in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from the perspective of predictive processing theory. Predictive processing for facial emotion recognition was implemented as a hierarchical recurrent neural network (RNN). The RNNs were trained to predict the dynamic changes of facial expression movies for six basic emotions without explicit emotion labels as a developmental learning process, and were evaluated by the performance of recognizing unseen facial expressions for the test phase. In addition, the causal relationship between the network characteristics assumed in ASD and ASD-like cognition was investigated. After the developmental learning process, emotional clusters emerged in the natural course of self-organization in higher-level neurons, even though emotional labels were not explicitly instructed. In addition, the network successfully recognized unseen test facial sequences by adjusting higher-level activity through the process of minimizing precision-weighted prediction error. In contrast, the network simulating altered intrinsic neural excitability demonstrated reduced generalization capability and impaired emotional clustering in higher-level neurons. Consistent with previous findings from human behavioral studies, an excessive precision estimation of noisy details underlies this ASD-like cognition. These results support the idea that impaired facial emotion recognition in ASD can be explained by altered predictive processing, and provide possible insight for investigating the neurophysiological basis of affective contact.

Emotion Recognition and Traumatic Brain Injury: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can lead to impairments in emotion recognition that can present considerable challenges to social communication and the maintenance of interpersonal relationships. This review aimed to estimate the magnitude of emotion recognition impairments in TBI patients overall, and at the emotion category level, and to determine if the magnitude of observed impairments were moderated by modality (e.g., face, voice, multi-modal) of emotional expression, and severity of injury. Searches of PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, and Medline databases identified 17 studies which satisfied strict inclusionandexclusion criteria for the systematic review (comparing TBI patients to matched controls). Of these studies, 15 were included in the meta-analysis (NTBI = 474; NControl = 461). Moderate/large average deficits emerged for TBI patients relative to controls (Hedges' g = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.61 - 0.96, p < .001; Q = 22.53, p = .068, τ2 = 0.04, I2 = 37.84; indicating low heterogeneity). TBI patients were impaired across all emotion categories, with moderate/large effect sizes observed for fear and anger, moderate effect sizes for disgust, neutral and sadness, while effect sizes for happiness and surprise were small. The magnitude of impairment for individuals with TBI severity classified as moderate/severe TBI was moderate, whereas severe TBI was large. Moderate/large effect sizes were observed across the different modalities of presentation. This meta-analysis provides evidence for marked global impairments in emotion recognition, with the magnitude of impairment greatest for negative emotions (i.e., anger and fear). This meta-analysis provided no evidence to suggest that the magnitude of impairment is influenced by injury severity or modality of stimulus presentation. Recommendations for future research are discussed.

Amygdala reactivity and ventromedial prefrontal cortex coupling in the processing of emotional face stimuli in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Impaired emotion recognition is common in individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and may, via deficient emotion self-regulation, relate to the frequently co-occurring affective and social problems. The present study used an emotional face-matching task and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate neural responses during the processing of angry and fearful faces and visuo-spatial control stimuli. Additionally, measures for emotion dysregulation, ADHD type, and age were investigated in relation to the behavioral and neural fMRI data. We utilized a sample of 61 adolescents/young adults with ADHD and 51 age-matched healthy controls (age range: 12–28 years). Participants with ADHD had higher emotion dysregulation scores than controls. They also reacted slower and less accurate in response to emotional but not visuo-spatial control stimuli. Neural response differences between emotional and visuo-spatial trials were significantly smaller in cases, particularly in the left amygdala. While coupling between the right amygdala and bilateral ventromedial prefrontal cortex was stronger for emotional than visuo-spatial stimuli in control subjects, levels of positive coupling between the trial types did not significantly differ in participants with ADHD. Neither emotion dysregulation scores, nor ADHD type or age were related to the behavioral and neural processing alterations during the emotional face-matching task. Results indicate that emotion recognition deficits in ADHD are particularly associated with lower amygdala activation to emotional stimuli and alterations in the functional connections of the amygdala to medial prefrontal areas. Emotion recognition deficits and associated neural alterations were unrelated to emotion dysregulation, ADHD type, or age.

Impaired recognition of nonverbal expressions of emotions in depressed individuals

IntroductionDepressive individuals are impaired in the recognition of emotions in others’. Recent research suggests that the recognition of nonverbal expressions of emotions in other people may depend on the analysis of bodily rather than facial expressions. Therefore, we investigated if an impaired recognition of emotions by depressed individuals is body part specific. MethodsClinically diagnosed depressed and healthy matched controls were instructed to identify nonverbal expressions of positive (happiness), neutral, and negative emotions (sadness) via the face, the body, or the body and face. ResultsDepressed participants responded significantly less correctly overall when compared to non-depressed individuals. The recognition of nonverbal expressions of happiness by the body negatively predicted the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) score. DiscussionThe data revealed that the impaired recognition of nonverbal expressions of emotions in others by depressed individuals is not body part specific. Nevertheless, depressive symptoms seem to be related to the recognition of bodily expressions of happiness. Future studies must address whether impairments of depressive individuals are related to nonverbal expressions of the whole body.

Reduced cognitive ability in people with rheumatoid arthritis compared with age-matched healthy controls.

ObjectiveThe aim was to compare the cognitive ability of people with RA with healthy controls (HCs).MethodsPeople with RA were recruited from the Norfolk Arthritis Register (NOAR), a population-based cohort study of people with inflammatory arthritis. Data on aged-matched HCs (people with no cognitive impairment) came from the comparison arm of The Dementia Research and Care Clinic Study (TRACC). People with RA and HCs performed a range of cognitive ability tasks to assess attention, memory, verbal fluency, language, visuospatial skills, emotional recognition, executive function and theory of mind. A score of <88 on the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination III was considered cognitive impairment. Scores were compared using linear regression adjusting for age, sex, smoking status, education, BMI, anxiety and depression.ResultsThirty-eight people with RA [mean (S.D.) age: 69.1 (8.0) years; 25 (65.8%) women] were matched with 28 HCs [mean (S.D.) age: 68.2 (6.4) years; 15 (53.6%) women]. Twenty-three (60.5%) people with RA were considered to have mild cognitive impairment [mean (S.D.) Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination III: RA = 85.2 (7.4), HC = 96.0 (2.5)]. People with RA had impairments in memory, verbal fluency, visuospatial functioning, executive function and emotional recognition in faces compared with HCs, after adjustment for confounders.ConclusionPeople with RA had cognitive impairments in a range of domains. People with RA might benefit from cognitive impairment screening to allow for early administration of appropriate interventions.

Negative parental emotional environment increases the association between childhood behavioral problems and impaired recognition of negative facial expressions.

Impaired facial emotion recognition is a transdiagnostic risk factor for a range of psychiatric disorders. Childhood behavioral difficulties and parental emotional environment have been independently associated with impaired emotion recognition; however, no study has examined the contribution of these factors in conjunction. We measured recognition of negative (sad, fear, anger), neutral, and happy facial expressions in 135 children aged 5-7 years referred by their teachers for behavioral problems. Parental emotional environment was assessed for parental expressed emotion (EE) - characterized by negative comments, reduced positive comments, low warmth, and negativity towards their child - using the 5-minute speech sample. Child behavioral problems were measured using the teacher-informant Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Child behavioral problems and parental EE were independently associated with impaired recognition of negative facial expressions specifically. An interactive effect revealed that the combination of both factors was associated with the greatest risk for impaired recognition of negative faces, and in particular sad facial expressions. No relationships emerged for the identification of happy facial expressions. This study furthers our understanding of multidimensional processes associated with the development of facial emotion recognition and supports the importance of early interventions that target this domain.

Characterizing subtypes and neural correlates of receptive aprosodia in acute right hemisphere stroke

IntroductionSpeakers naturally produce prosodic variations depending on their emotional state. Receptive prosody has several processing stages. We aimed to conduct lesion-symptom mapping to determine whether damage (core infarct or hypoperfusion) to specific brain areas was associated with receptive aprosodia or with impairment at different processing stages in individuals with acute right hemisphere stroke. We also aimed to determine whether different subtypes of receptive aprosodia exist that are characterized by distinctive behavioral performance patterns. MethodsTwenty patients with receptive aprosodia following right hemisphere ischemic stroke were enrolled within five days of stroke; clinical imaging was acquired. Participants completed tests of receptive emotional prosody, and tests of each stage of prosodic processing (Stage 1: acoustic analysis; Stage 2: analyzing abstract representations of acoustic characteristics that convey emotion; Stage 3: semantic processing). Emotional facial recognition was also assessed. LASSO regression was used to identify predictors of performance on each behavioral task. Predictors entered into each model included 14 right hemisphere regions, hypoperfusion in four vascular territories as measured using FLAIR hyperintense vessel ratings, lesion volume, age, and education. A k-medoid cluster analysis was used to identify different subtypes of receptive aprosodia based on performance on the behavioral tasks. ResultsImpaired receptive emotional prosody and impaired emotional facial expression recognition were both predicted by greater percent damage to the caudate. The k-medoid cluster analysis identified three different subtypes of aprosodia. One group was primarily impaired on Stage 1 processing and primarily had frontotemporal lesions. The second group had a domain-general emotion recognition impairment and maximal lesion overlap in subcortical areas. Finally, the third group was characterized by a Stage 2 processing deficit and had lesion overlap in posterior regions. ConclusionsSubcortical structures, particularly the caudate, play an important role in emotional prosody comprehension. Receptive aprosodia can result from impairments at different processing stages.

Features of emotion recognition in deviant adolescents

IntroductionSome researchers believe that an increased level of aggression and cruelty towards others in delinquent adolescents is due to impaired recognition of emotions and empathy.ObjectivesThe aim of our study was to study the recognition of emotions in deviant adolescents.MethodsAs a material, 156 juvenile offenders from 13 to 19 years old were selected who were in the camp for delinquent adolescents “Sibextrem”. All of them committed any offenses, they were registered with the social welfare authorities and the police. The adolescents were trained to reduce aggressiveness. During the training, several exercises were carried out. In the first exercise, the teenagers were asked to identify the emotions depicted in the photographs. In the second, determine what emotional state their peers portrayResultsDuring the training process, 78% of adolescents could not identify the emotions presented. This was typical not only for the recognition of standard images, but also for the presentation of emotions by peers. As a result of the training, most adolescents, 64.2%, learned to quite accurately recognize nonverbal emotions. As a result, the number of aggressive manifestations decreased by 31.6%. Mutual understanding and communication improved.ConclusionsThe results obtained indicate that deviant adolescents have impaired emotional perception of others. Difficulty in assessing emotions creates tension in interpersonal relationships and can contribute to the manifestation of various forms of aggressive behavior. The vector of research we have chosen shows the need for further study of the emotional sphere of adolescents and its relationship with deviant forms of behavior.