The Relationship Between Facial Expression and Cognitive Function in Patients With Depression

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Ma Ruihua¹  Yang Fude¹  Tian Li¹  Wang Zhiren¹  Guo Hua³  Zhao Meng⁴  Chen Nan¹  Liu Panqi¹  Liu Sijia¹  Shi Jing¹  Tan Yunlong¹  Tan Shuping¹ 

[1] Peking University HuiLongGuan Clinical Medical School, Beijing Huilongguan Hospital;Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Biomedicine and Translational Medicine, University of Tartu;Zhumadian Psychiatric Hospital;Department of Neurosurgery, Sanbo Brain Hospital, Capital Medical University

关键词: depression;    cognitive function;    facial expression recognition;    processing speed;    problem-solving;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2021.648346

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Objective: Considerable evidence has shown that facial expression recognition ability and cognitive function are impaired in patients with depression. We aimed to investigate the relationship between facial expression recognition and cognitive function in patients with depression. Methods: A total of 51 participants (i.e., 31 patients with depression and 20 healthy control subjects) underwent facial expression recognition tests, measuring anger, fear, disgust, sadness, happiness, and surprise. The Chinese version of the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB), which assesses seven cognitive domains, was used. Results: When compared with a control group, there were differences in the recognition of the expressions of sadness ( p = 0.036), happiness ( p = 0.041), and disgust ( p = 0.030) in a depression group. In terms of cognitive function, the scores of patients with depression in the Trail Making Test (TMT; p < 0.001), symbol coding ( p < 0.001), spatial span ( p < 0.001), mazes ( p = 0.007), the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test (BVMT; p = 0.001), category fluency ( p = 0.029), and continuous performance test ( p = 0.001) were lower than those of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant. The accuracy of sadness and disgust expression recognition in patients with depression was significantly positively correlated with cognitive function scores. The deficits in sadness expression recognition were significantly correlated with the TMT ( p = 0.001, r = 0.561), symbol coding ( p = 0.001, r = 0.596), maze ( p = 0.015, r = 0.439), and the BVMT ( p = 0.044, r = 0.370). The deficits in disgust expression recognition were significantly correlated with impairments in the TMT ( p = 0.005, r = 0.501) and symbol coding ( p = 0.001, r = 0.560). Conclusion: Since cognitive function is impaired in patients with depression, the ability to recognize negative facial expressions declines, which is mainly reflected in processing speed, reasoning, problem-solving, and memory.

【 授权许可】

CC BY