“What Is Hidden behind the Mask?” Facial Emotion Recognition at the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic in Cognitively Normal Multiple Sclerosis Patients
Social cognition deficits have been described in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS), even in absence of a global cognitive impairment, affecting predominantly the ability to adequately process emotions from human faces. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to wear face masks that might interfe...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Diagnostics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/12/1/47 |
| _version_ | 1827666075113750528 |
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| author | Stefano Ziccardi Francesco Crescenzo Massimiliano Calabrese |
| author_facet | Stefano Ziccardi Francesco Crescenzo Massimiliano Calabrese |
| author_sort | Stefano Ziccardi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Social cognition deficits have been described in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS), even in absence of a global cognitive impairment, affecting predominantly the ability to adequately process emotions from human faces. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to wear face masks that might interfere with facial emotion recognition. Therefore, in the present study, we aimed at investigating the ability of emotion recognition in PwMS from faces wearing masks. We enrolled a total of 42 cognitively normal relapsing–remitting PwMS and a matched group of 20 healthy controls (HCs). Participants underwent a facial emotion recognition task in which they had to recognize from faces wearing or not surgical masks which of the six basic emotions (happiness, anger, fear, sadness, surprise, disgust) was presented. Results showed that face masks negatively affected emotion recognition in all participants (<i>p</i> < 0.001); in particular, PwMS showed a global worse accuracy than HCs (<i>p</i> = 0.005), mainly driven by the “no masked” (<i>p</i> = 0.021) than the “masked” (<i>p</i> = 0.064) condition. Considering individual emotions, PwMS showed a selective impairment in the recognition of fear, compared with HCs, in both the conditions investigated (“masked”: <i>p</i> = 0.023; “no masked”: <i>p</i> = 0.016). Face masks affected negatively also response times (<i>p</i> < 0.001); in particular, PwMS were globally hastier than HCs (<i>p</i> = 0.024), especially in the “masked” condition (<i>p</i> = 0.013). Furthermore, a detailed characterization of the performance of PwMS and HCs in terms of accuracy and response speed was proposed. Results from the present study showed the effect of face masks on the ability to process facial emotions in PwMS, compared with HCs. Healthcare professionals working with PwMS at the time of the COVID-19 outbreak should take into consideration this effect in their clinical practice. Implications in the everyday life of PwMS are also discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:39:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ec3c573e06ae46478b49e8f9ee9b42fd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-4418 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:39:52Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Diagnostics |
| spelling | doaj.art-ec3c573e06ae46478b49e8f9ee9b42fd2023-11-23T13:27:21ZengMDPI AGDiagnostics2075-44182021-12-011214710.3390/diagnostics12010047“What Is Hidden behind the Mask?” Facial Emotion Recognition at the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic in Cognitively Normal Multiple Sclerosis PatientsStefano Ziccardi0Francesco Crescenzo1Massimiliano Calabrese2Neurology Section, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, 37134 Verona, ItalyNeurology Unit, Mater Salutis Hospital, AULSS 9 Scaligera, 37045 Verona, ItalyNeurology Section, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, 37134 Verona, ItalySocial cognition deficits have been described in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS), even in absence of a global cognitive impairment, affecting predominantly the ability to adequately process emotions from human faces. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to wear face masks that might interfere with facial emotion recognition. Therefore, in the present study, we aimed at investigating the ability of emotion recognition in PwMS from faces wearing masks. We enrolled a total of 42 cognitively normal relapsing–remitting PwMS and a matched group of 20 healthy controls (HCs). Participants underwent a facial emotion recognition task in which they had to recognize from faces wearing or not surgical masks which of the six basic emotions (happiness, anger, fear, sadness, surprise, disgust) was presented. Results showed that face masks negatively affected emotion recognition in all participants (<i>p</i> < 0.001); in particular, PwMS showed a global worse accuracy than HCs (<i>p</i> = 0.005), mainly driven by the “no masked” (<i>p</i> = 0.021) than the “masked” (<i>p</i> = 0.064) condition. Considering individual emotions, PwMS showed a selective impairment in the recognition of fear, compared with HCs, in both the conditions investigated (“masked”: <i>p</i> = 0.023; “no masked”: <i>p</i> = 0.016). Face masks affected negatively also response times (<i>p</i> < 0.001); in particular, PwMS were globally hastier than HCs (<i>p</i> = 0.024), especially in the “masked” condition (<i>p</i> = 0.013). Furthermore, a detailed characterization of the performance of PwMS and HCs in terms of accuracy and response speed was proposed. Results from the present study showed the effect of face masks on the ability to process facial emotions in PwMS, compared with HCs. Healthcare professionals working with PwMS at the time of the COVID-19 outbreak should take into consideration this effect in their clinical practice. Implications in the everyday life of PwMS are also discussed.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/12/1/47multiple sclerosisfacial emotion recognitionCOVID-19face maskssocial cognition |
| spellingShingle | Stefano Ziccardi Francesco Crescenzo Massimiliano Calabrese “What Is Hidden behind the Mask?” Facial Emotion Recognition at the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic in Cognitively Normal Multiple Sclerosis Patients Diagnostics multiple sclerosis facial emotion recognition COVID-19 face masks social cognition |
| title | “What Is Hidden behind the Mask?” Facial Emotion Recognition at the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic in Cognitively Normal Multiple Sclerosis Patients |
| title_full | “What Is Hidden behind the Mask?” Facial Emotion Recognition at the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic in Cognitively Normal Multiple Sclerosis Patients |
| title_fullStr | “What Is Hidden behind the Mask?” Facial Emotion Recognition at the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic in Cognitively Normal Multiple Sclerosis Patients |
| title_full_unstemmed | “What Is Hidden behind the Mask?” Facial Emotion Recognition at the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic in Cognitively Normal Multiple Sclerosis Patients |
| title_short | “What Is Hidden behind the Mask?” Facial Emotion Recognition at the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic in Cognitively Normal Multiple Sclerosis Patients |
| title_sort | what is hidden behind the mask facial emotion recognition at the time of covid 19 pandemic in cognitively normal multiple sclerosis patients |
| topic | multiple sclerosis facial emotion recognition COVID-19 face masks social cognition |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/12/1/47 |
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