MRI correlates of emotion recognition in vascular dementia: An empty systematic review

Emotion recognition is a core component of social cognition and has been extensively investigated in several neurodegenerative disorders. However, despite the high prevalence and heterogeneous cerebrovascular pathology of vascular dementia (VaD), evidence on emotion recognition in this population remains fragmented and poorly characterized at the neuroimaging level. This study conducted an empty systematic review to evaluate the current state of MRI-based research and identify critical gaps in the literature. In accordance with PRISMA guidelines, systematic searches were performed in Scopus, EBSCO, and PubMed, alongside additional sources, using predefined eligibility criteria focusing on performance-based measures of emotion recognition in VaD and MRI-based investigations of neural correlates. From 7455 screened records, no studies met the inclusion criteria. The absence of eligible studies indicates a complete lack of MRI-based evidence directly examining emotion recognition or its associated neural, behavioral, or clinical correlates in VaD. This finding highlights substantial methodological and conceptual fragmentation, including limited integration of standardized social cognition measures with neuroimaging approaches in VaD research. Overall, this empty review identifies a critical evidence gap and underscores the need for well-designed empirical studies employing standardized behavioral paradigms and multimodal MRI methodologies to advance mechanistic understanding and clinical translation in VaD.