Objective: In Alzheimer's disease, hippocampus is altered quickly. It’s involved in the control memory and emotion. The simultaneous assessment of memory and of perception of emotions could reveal specific hippocampus disturbances.
Design:
1) To assess the visual perception of facial emotional expressions by means of M.A.R.I.E.
2) To measure cognitive abilities of elderly subjects by means of the MATTIS' scale.
3) To study a possible relationship between these 2 measures.
Materials and Methods: Using M.A.R.I.E., 6 series of morphed faces were prepared by blending a neutral expression with: happiness, disgust, fear, anger, surprise, and sadness.
Subjects: Group “A”: 7 subjects reached a score superior to 140: MATTIS: 143+/-1.7; age 58+/-8. Group ”B” 31 subjects reached a score lower than 140: MATTIS: 123+/-9; age: 74+/-8.
Results: For each series of morphed stimuli, the distribution of choices was approached by means of a sigmoidal function; the fit of the model was assessed by means of Chi-2 tests.
Conclusion:
1) Deficits in the identification of some facial expressions (happiness, disgust, anger, sadness) in group “A”.
2) Categorical perception of surprise, anger, fear, and sadness tends to vanish, while categorical perception of disgust is amplified; happiness is processed categorically with a reduced sensitivity.
3) Disgust and sadness appear to be very sensitive to cognitive deficits and/or aging.
Back to S039 Neuropsychology and Aging: Dementia and Beyond
Back to The Eleventh International Congress