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Facial emotion recognition deficit in amnestic mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer disease
Spoletini I, Marra C, Di Iulio F, Gianni W, Sancesario G, Giubilei F, Trequattrini A, Bria P et al.. The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, 2008-04-10
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Objectives A deficit in facial emotion recognition was described in patients with Alzheimer disease (AD). However, this issue has been underexplored in subjects with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (a-MCI). Thus, the authors aimed to determine whether a deficit in facial emotion recognition is present in a-MCI phase and whether this is intensity dependent. A secondary aim was to investigate relationships between facial emotion recognition and cognitive performances. Design Case-control study. Setting Memory clinic. Participants Fifty a-MCI patients, 50 mild AD patients, and 50 comparison subjects (COM) were enrolled. Measurements Information about facial emotion recognition was obtained from Penn Emotion Recognition Test. The Mental Deterioration Battery was used to measure cognitive impairment. Results Mild AD patients were more impaired in the recognition of almost all emotional stimuli of all intensities than a-MCI and COM subjects. However, there was an increased progression only in low-intensity facial emotion recognition deficit from COM to a-MCI to mild AD patients. In particular, a-MCI subjects differed significantly from COM in low-intensity fearful face recognition performance. This deficit in a-MCI patients was explained by the short-term verbal memory impairment, whereas the same deficit in mild AD patients was explained by the long-term verbal memory impairment. Conclusions Emotion recognition progresses from a deficit in low-intensity fearful facial recognition in a-MCI phase to a deficit in all intensities and emotions in mild AD. This could be an effect of the progressive degeneration of brain structures modulating emotional processing. An early detection of emotional impairment in MCI phases of dementia may have clinical implications.
Key findings
- Results Mild AD patients were more impaired in the recognition of almost all emotional stimuli of all intensities than a-MCI and COM subjects.
- In particular, a-MCI subjects differed significantly from COM in low-intensity fearful face recognition performance.
Why it matters
In this case-control study, people with amnestic mild cognitive impairment had more trouble recognizing low-intensity fearful faces than comparison subjects, and this deficit was explained by short-term verbal memory impairment. This is a cognitive finding and does not test any treatment or prevention.
Study details
- Study designcase-control study
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 50/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a case-control study. Scored zero for sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry: journal h-index 178 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 6 / 12 | A case-control study |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2008 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 151 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 7.5 citations a year over 20 year(s) since 2008 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 3.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 1 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 20 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Gianfranco Spalletta: h-index 85 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Sapienza University of Rome: institution h-index 1,145 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 5 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 18403572) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 50 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
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APA 7th
Spoletini, I., Marra, C., Di Iulio, F., Gianni, W., Sancesario, G., Giubilei, F., et al. (2008). Facial emotion recognition deficit in amnestic mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer disease. The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1097/jgp.0b013e318165dbce
Vancouver
Spoletini I, Marra C, Di Iulio F, Gianni W, Sancesario G, Giubilei F, et al. Facial emotion recognition deficit in amnestic mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer disease. The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. 2008. doi:10.1097/jgp.0b013e318165dbce. PMID: 18403572.
BibTeX
@article{spoletini2008-18403572,
author = {Spoletini, I. and Marra, C. and Di Iulio, F. and Gianni, W. and Sancesario, G. and Giubilei, F. and Trequattrini, A. and Bria, P. and others},
title = {{Facial emotion recognition deficit in amnestic mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer disease}},
journal = {The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry},
year = {2008},
doi = {10.1097/jgp.0b013e318165dbce},
pmid = {18403572},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1097/jgp.0b013e318165dbce}
}
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