Deficient Emotion Processing is Associated with Everyday Functioning Capacity in HIV-associated Neurocognitive...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Infectious Diseases

Background:

• Emotion processing is understudied in HIV.
• Facial affect discrimination may be affected in HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND).
• Emerging evidence suggests a link between HAND and emotion processing deficits.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate emotion processing abilities in individuals with HAND.
• To compare emotion processing in HIV+ with HAND, HIV+ without HAND, and HIV-seronegative individuals.
• To determine if emotion processing deficits correlate with social functioning.

Main Methods:

• 37 HIV+ with HAND, 46 HIV+ without HAND, and 38 HIV-seronegative participants were studied.
• The CogState Social Emotional Cognition Task (SECT) was used to assess emotion processing.
• The UCSD Performance-based Skills Assessment-Brief (UPSA-B) measured functional capacity.

Main Results:

• The HAND group exhibited impaired accuracy and slower reaction times on the SECT task.
• Individuals with HAND were significantly more likely to have impaired emotion processing accuracy.
• Emotion processing accuracy, not reaction time, was linked to social functioning in individuals with HIV.

Conclusions:

• Disrupted emotion processing is a key feature of HAND.
• Emotion processing deficits may predict real-world social functioning in individuals with HIV.
• Further research is needed to explore interventions for improving social functioning in HAND.