Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 6, 2025
Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition
Published on: February 1, 2012
Relationship between neuroimaging and emotion recognition in mild cognitive impairment patients
Maria Teresa Gandia-Ferrero1, Jesús Adrián-Ventura2, Consuelo Cháfer-Pericás3
1Biomedical Imaging Research Group (GIBI230), La Fe Health Research Institute (IIS La Fe), Avenida Fernando Abril Martorell, 46026 Valencia, Spain.
Objective:
Dementia is a major public health problem with high needs for early detection, efficient treatment, and prognosis evaluation. Social cognition impairment could be an early dementia indicator and can be assessed with emotion recognition evaluation tests. The purpose of this study is to investigate the link between different brain imaging modalities and cognitive status in Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) patients, with the goal of uncovering potential physiopathological mechanisms based on social cognition performance.
Methods:
The relationship between the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) and some clinical and biochemical variables ([18 F]FDG PET-CT and anatomical MR parameters, neuropsychological evaluation, and CSF biomarkers) was studied in 166 patients with MCI by using a correlational approach.
Results:
The RMET correlated with neuropsychological variables, as well as with structural and functional brain parameters obtained from the MR and FDG-PET imaging evaluation. However, significant correlations between the RMET and CSF biomarkers were not found.
Discussion:
Different neuroimaging parameters were found to be related to an emotion recognition task in MCI. This analysis identified potential minimally-invasive biomarkers providing some knowledge about the physiopathological mechanisms in MCI.
