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Shared and Divergent Multisensory Emotion Perception Deficits across Mild Cognitive Impairment, Alzheimer’s Disease, and Frontotemporal Dementia: A Systematic Review and Hierarchical Bayesian Meta-Analysis
Lin Y, Lu Y, Tang E, Zhang Y.. PsyArXiv, 2026-10-01
Topic: Brain imaging, connectivity and assessment
The ability to decode others’ emotions from multisensory cues is central to social functioning. However, findings remain inconsistent regarding the extent to which this capacity is compromised in neurodegenerative diseases, leaving the underlying mechanisms unclear. This study aimed to delineate the shared and divergent patterns of multisensory emotion perception (MEP) deficits among clinically distinct populations of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We conducted a systematic review on 51 studies identified from Web of Science, MEDLINE, PubMed, PsycINFO and PsycARTICLES to synthesize research trends in this field between 2001 and 2025. We applied a hierarchical Bayesian meta-analysis (1,511 patients and 1,151 healthy controls) to quantify the deficits and their moderators. Meta-analytic results demonstrated a differential magnitude of MEP impairment across groups (FTD > AD > MCI), reflecting distinct socio-emotional vulnerabilities rather than a single disease continuum. Moderator analyses of 15 participant- and study-related factors showed that impairment magnitude was more strongly associated with age, sex, education, global cognitive functioning, publication year, and emotion category, and less strongly with region, paradigm, language, and modality. Sensitivity analyses indicated that these patterns remained robust to potential publication bias, though the results were less stable within the FTD cohort. We propose a Hierarchical Socio-Emotional Disintegration and Compensation Framework to explain the dynamic interplay between neurodegeneration-driven deficits and compensatory mechanisms. This framework advances mechanistic insight into the relationship between emotion and cognition, informing future clinical efforts to support the interpersonal well-being of aging populations.
Key findings
- Meta-analytic results demonstrated a differential magnitude of MEP impairment across groups (FTD > AD > MCI), reflecting distinct socio-emotional vulnerabilities rather than a single disease continuum.
- Moderator analyses of 15 participant- and study-related factors showed that impairment magnitude was more strongly associated with age, sex, education, global cognitive functioning, publication year, and emotion category, and less strongly with region, paradigm, language, and modality.
- Sensitivity analyses indicated that these patterns remained robust to potential publication bias, though the results were less stable within the FTD cohort.
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Study details
- Study designsystematic review
- Participants1,511
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 16/100
Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. It scored 56 on the same rubric, but non-peer-reviewed sources are capped at 16, so it shows as 16. Scored zero for effect reported because the record does not state it. We have no data on times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 35 of the 62 points we could judge it on, which is 56 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 2 / 10 | Tier 4 — not a peer-reviewed journal (PsyArXiv) |
| Journal's citation record | 0 / 4 | Not a journal article, so the journal's record does not count |
| Study design | 12 / 12 | A systematic review of all the studies on the question |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 4 / 10 | Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. Hosted on a preprint server. |
| How recent | 5 / 5 | 2026 — within 1 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 3 / 4 | 1,511 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | A review of other studies — randomisation is not credited here |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 1 / 2 | Not in PubMed, but has a DOI |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 35 / 62 | Scored on 12 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 35 of the 62 points we could judge it on is 56 out of 100. |
| Total | 56 / 100 | Capped to 16 because this is not a peer-reviewed article. |
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Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Lin, Y., Lu, Y., Tang, E., & Zhang, Y. (2026). Shared and Divergent Multisensory Emotion Perception Deficits across Mild Cognitive Impairment, Alzheimer’s Disease, and Frontotemporal Dementia: A Systematic Review and Hierarchical Bayesian Meta-Analysis. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/8gp9e_v1
Vancouver
Lin Y, Lu Y, Tang E, Zhang Y. Shared and Divergent Multisensory Emotion Perception Deficits across Mild Cognitive Impairment, Alzheimer’s Disease, and Frontotemporal Dementia: A Systematic Review and Hierarchical Bayesian Meta-Analysis. PsyArXiv. 2026. doi:10.31234/osf.io/8gp9e_v1.
BibTeX
@article{lin2026-e21d71e2,
author = {Lin, Y. and Lu, Y. and Tang, E. and Zhang, Y.},
title = {{Shared and Divergent Multisensory Emotion Perception Deficits across Mild Cognitive Impairment, Alzheimer’s Disease, and Frontotemporal Dementia: A Systematic Review and Hierarchical Bayesian Meta-Analysis}},
journal = {PsyArXiv},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.31234/osf.io/8gp9e_v1},
url = {https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/8gp9e_v1}
}