Virtanen, M;
Singh-Manoux, A;
Batty, GD;
Ebmeier, KP;
Jokela, M;
Harmer, CJ;
Kivimaki, M;
(2017)
The level of cognitive function and recognition of emotions in older adults.
PLoS ONE
, 12
(10)
, Article e0185513. 10.1371/journal.pone.0185513.
Preview |
Text
Kivimaki_journal.pone.0185513.pdf - Published Version Download (1MB) | Preview |
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The association between cognitive decline and the ability to recognise emotions in interpersonal communication is not well understood. We aimed to investigate the association between cognitive function and the ability to recognise emotions in other people’s facial expressions across the full continuum of cognitive capacity. METHODS: Cross-sectional analysis of 4039 participants (3016 men, 1023 women aged 59 to 82 years) in the Whitehall II study. Cognitive function was assessed using a 30-item Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), further classified into 8 groups: 30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24, and <24 (possible dementia) MMSE points. The Facial Expression Recognition Task (FERT) was used to examine recognition of anger, fear, disgust, sadness, and happiness. RESULTS: The multivariable adjusted difference in the percentage of accurate recognition between the highest and lowest MMSE group was 14.9 (95%CI, 11.1–18.7) for anger, 15.5 (11.9–19.2) for fear, 18.5 (15.2–21.8) for disgust, 11.6 (7.3–16.0) for sadness, and 6.3 (3.1–9.4) for happiness. However, recognition of several emotions was reduced already after 1 to 2-point reduction in MMSE and with further points down in MMSE, the recognition worsened at an accelerated rate. CONCLUSIONS: The ability to recognize emotion in facial expressions is affected at an early stage of cognitive impairment and might decline at an accelerated rate with the deterioration of cognitive function. Accurate recognition of happiness seems to be less affected by a severe decline in cognitive performance than recognition of negatively valued emotions.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | The level of cognitive function and recognition of emotions in older adults |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0185513 |
| Publisher version: | http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0185513 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2017 Virtanen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
| Keywords: | Science & Technology, Multidisciplinary Sciences, Science & Technology - Other Topics, FACIAL AFFECT RECOGNITION, MINI-MENTAL-STATE, ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE, SOCIAL COGNITION, NEURODEGENERATIVE DISORDERS, PSYCHIATRIC-DISORDER, IMPAIRMENT, DEMENTIA, SCHIZOPHRENIA, HUNTINGTONS |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Epidemiology and Public Health |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10036700 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
