Cited by 61Dementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchFace Recognition and PerceptionNeural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

Facial expressiveness and physiological arousal in frontotemporal dementia: phenotypic clinical profiles and neural correlates

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Kumfor, Fiona, Hazelton, Jessica L., Rushby, Jacqueline A., Hodges, John R., Piguet, Olivier·2019·Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience

Abstract

Early theories of emotion processing propose an interplay between autonomic function and cognitive appraisal of emotions. Patients with frontotemporal dementia show profound social cognition deficits and atrophy in regions implicated in autonomic emotional responses (insula, amygdala, prefrontal cortex), yet objective measures of facial expressiveness and physiological arousal have been relatively unexplored. We investigated psychophysiological responses (surface facial electromyography (EMG); skin conductance level (SCL)) to emotional stimuli in 25 behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) patients, 14 semantic dementia (SD) patients, and 24 healthy older controls, while viewing emotionally positive, neutral, or negative video clips. Voxel-based morphometry was conducted to identify neural correlates of responses. Unlike controls, patients with bvFTD did not show differential facial EMG responses according to emotion condition, whereas SD patients showed increased zygomaticus responses to both positive and neutral videos. Controls showed greater arousal (SCL) when viewing positive and negative videos; however, both bvFTD and SD groups showed no change in SCL across conditions. Regardless of group membership, right insula damage was associated with dampened zygomaticus responses to positive film stimuli. Change in arousal (SCL) was associated with lower integrity of the caudate, amygdala, and temporal pole. Our results demonstrate that while bvFTD patients show an overall dampening of responses, SD patients appear to show incongruous facial emotional expressions. Abnormal responding is related to cortical and subcortical brain atrophy. These results identify potential mechanisms for the abnormal social behaviour in bvFTD and SD and demonstrate that psychophysiological responses are an important mechanism underpinning normal socioemotional functioning.

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  • People with bvFTD display socially inappropriate behaviour, emotional blunting, and apathy (all likely related to interoception deficits) are commonly observed symptoms.

    “For instance, people with bvFTD display socially inappropriate behaviour, emotional blunting, and apathy (all likely related to interoception deficits)11 are commonly observed symptoms.26, 27, 28”

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Lang, P. J. (1980). Behavioral treatment and bio-behavioral assessment. In J. B. Sidowski, J. H. Johnson, & T. A. Williams (Eds.), Technology in mental health care delivery system (pp. 119-137).
  2. Lange, C. (1922). The emotions (I. A. Haupt, Trans.). In K. Dunlap (Ed.), (pp. 33-90). Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.

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Authors
Kumfor, F., Hazelton, J. L., Rushby, J. A., Hodges, J. R., & Piguet, O.
Affiliations
  • The University of Sydney (AU)
  • UNSW Sydney (AU)
Corresponding author
Kumfor, Fiona
Venue
Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience
Published
2018-11-28
Volume
19
Issue
1
Pages
197-210
ISSN
  • 1530-7026 (ISSN-L)
  • 1531-135X
OpenAlex
W2903292730
Cited by
61
References
81
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 3
FWCI
4.32
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Australian Research Council (CE11000102)
  • National Health and Medical Research Council (APP1037746, APP1097026, APP1103258)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
Keywords
frontotemporal dementia, behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, semantic dementia, facial expressivity, physiological arousal, skin conductance level, facial electromyography, insula, amygdala, caudate nucleus, temporal pole, social cognition, emotional processing, brain atrophy, social-emotional functioning
MeSH terms
Aged, Amygdala, Brain Mapping, Emotions, Face, Facial Expression, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Social Behavior, Frontotemporal Dementia

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