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Brain Imaging Investigation of the Memory-Enhancing Effect of Emotion
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Emotional experience is increased and emotion recognition decreased in multiple sclerosis
Line Pfaff1,2, Daniel Gounot3, Jean-Baptiste Chanson4
1University of Strasbourg and French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), ICube Laboratory UMR 7357 and FMTS (Fédération de Médecine Translationnelle de Strasbourg), Team IMIS/Neurocrypto, Strasbourg, France. lpfaff@unistra.fr.
Scientific Reports
|November 9, 2021
Summary
Multiple sclerosis patients struggle with recognizing emotions and have heightened emotional experiences. These emotional challenges are linked to cognitive functions but not to psychological factors or disease severity.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Clinical Medicine
Background:
- Emotional disorders in multiple sclerosis (MS) often involve difficulties in recognizing facial expressions, with less focus on the subjective experience.
- The interplay between emotional, cognitive, and psychological disorders in MS is not well-documented.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate emotion recognition and emotional experience in individuals with MS.
- To compare these emotional aspects with cognitive, psychological, and disease-related factors in MS patients.
Main Methods:
- Assessed emotion recognition using the Florida Affect Battery.
- Evaluated emotional experience via the International Affective Picture System (IAPS).
- Assessed cognitive and psychological parameters in 25 women with MS and 27 healthy controls.
Main Results:
- The MS group exhibited greater difficulty in recognizing emotions compared to controls.
- MS patients showed more scattered and globally increased subjective emotional evaluations of IAPS images.
- Emotional dimensions correlated with executive functions but not with alexithymia, depression, anxiety, or MS characteristics.
Conclusions:
- Multiple sclerosis patients experience challenges in emotion identification and exhibit heightened emotional responses.
- These emotional deficits are associated with cognitive functions, particularly executive functions.
- Emotional disorders in MS are independent of psychological status and disease progression, highlighting the need for clinical consideration.
