Dataset Information

In the face of threat: neural and endocrine correlates of impaired facial emotion recognition in cocaine dependence.

ABSTRACT: The ability to recognize facial expressions of emotion in others is a cornerstone of human interaction. Selective impairments in the recognition of facial expressions of fear have frequently been reported in chronic cocaine users, but the nature of these impairments remains poorly understood. We used the multivariate method of partial least squares and structural magnetic resonance imaging to identify gray matter brain networks that underlie facial affect processing in both cocaine-dependent (n = 29) and healthy male volunteers (n = 29). We hypothesized that disruptions in neuroendocrine function in cocaine-dependent individuals would explain their impairments in fear recognition by modulating the relationship with the underlying gray matter networks. We found that cocaine-dependent individuals not only exhibited significant impairments in the recognition of fear, but also for facial expressions of anger. Although recognition accuracy of threatening expressions co-varied in all participants with distinctive gray matter networks implicated in fear and anger processing, in cocaine users it was less well predicted by these networks than in controls. The weaker brain-behavior relationships for threat processing were also mediated by distinctly different factors. Fear recognition impairments were influenced by variations in intelligence levels, whereas anger recognition impairments were associated with comorbid opiate dependence and related reduction in testosterone levels. We also observed an inverse relationship between testosterone levels and the duration of crack and opiate use. Our data provide novel insight into the neurobiological basis of abnormal threat processing in cocaine dependence, which may shed light on new opportunities facilitating the psychosocial integration of these patients.

SUBMITTER: Ersche KD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4471289 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

In the face of threat: neural and endocrine correlates of impaired facial emotion recognition in cocaine dependence.

Ersche K D KD Hagan C C CC Smith D G DG Jones P S PS Calder A J AJ Williams G B GB

Translational psychiatry 20150526

The ability to recognize facial expressions of emotion in others is a cornerstone of human interaction. Selective impairments in the recognition of facial expressions of fear have frequently been reported in chronic cocaine users, but the nature of these impairments remains poorly understood. We used the multivariate method of partial least squares and structural magnetic resonance imaging to identify gray matter brain networks that underlie facial affect processing in both cocaine-dependent (n ...[more]

PMID: 26080087

Similar Datasets

Project description:Recognizing others' emotional states is crucial for effective social interaction. While most facial emotion recognition tasks use explicit prompts that trigger consciously controlled processing, emotional faces are almost exclusively processed implicitly in real life. Recent attempts in social cognition suggest a dual process perspective, whereby explicit and implicit processes largely operate independently. However, due to differences in methodology the direct comparison of implicit and explicit social cognition has remained a challenge. Here, we introduce a new tool to comparably measure implicit and explicit processing aspects comprising basic and complex emotions in facial expressions. We developed two video-based tasks with similar answer formats to assess performance in respective facial emotion recognition processes: Face Puzzle, implicit and explicit. To assess the tasks' sensitivity to atypical social cognition and to infer interrelationship patterns between explicit and implicit processes in typical and atypical development, we included healthy adults (NT, n = 24) and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD, n = 24). Item analyses yielded good reliability of the new tasks. Group-specific results indicated sensitivity to subtle social impairments in high-functioning ASD. Correlation analyses with established implicit and explicit socio-cognitive measures were further in favor of the tasks' external validity. Between group comparisons provide first hints of differential relations between implicit and explicit aspects of facial emotion recognition processes in healthy compared to ASD participants. In addition, an increased magnitude of between group differences in the implicit task was found for a speed-accuracy composite measure. The new Face Puzzle tool thus provides two new tasks to separately assess explicit and implicit social functioning, for instance, to measure subtle impairments as well as potential improvements due to social cognitive interventions.

Project description:BACKGROUND: Impaired social functioning is a common symptom of individuals with developmental disruptions in callosal connectivity. Among these developmental conditions, agenesis of the corpus callosum provides the most extreme and clearly identifiable example of callosal disconnection. To date, deficits in nonliteral language comprehension, humor, theory of mind, and social reasoning have been documented in agenesis of the corpus callosum. Here, we examined a basic social ability as yet not investigated in this population: recognition of facial emotion and its association with social gaze. METHODS: Nine individuals with callosal agenesis and nine matched controls completed four tasks involving emotional faces: emotion recognition from upright and inverted faces, gender recognition, and passive viewing. Eye-tracking data were collected concurrently on all four tasks and analyzed according to designated facial regions of interest. RESULTS: Individuals with callosal agenesis exhibited impairments in recognizing emotions from upright faces, in particular lower accuracy for fear and anger, and these impairments were directly associated with diminished attention to the eye region. The callosal agenesis group exhibited greater consistency in emotion recognition across conditions (upright vs. inverted), with poorest performance for fear identification in both conditions. The callosal agenesis group also had atypical facial scanning (lower fractional dwell time in the eye region) during gender naming and passive viewing of faces, but they did not differ from controls on gender naming performance. The pattern of results did not differ when taking into account full-scale intelligence quotient or presence of autism spectrum symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Agenesis of the corpus callosum results in a pattern of atypical facial scanning characterized by diminished attention to the eyes. This pattern suggests that reduced callosal connectivity may contribute to the development and maintenance of emotion processing deficits involving reduced attention to others' eyes.

Dataset Information

In the face of threat: neural and endocrine correlates of impaired facial emotion recognition in cocaine dependence.

Publications

In the face of threat: neural and endocrine correlates of impaired facial emotion recognition in cocaine dependence.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure