[Emotion Recognition in Patients with Peripheral Facial Paralysis - A Pilot Study].

BACKGROUND: The perception of emotions is an important component in enabling human beings to social interaction in everyday life. Thus, the ability to recognize the emotions of the other one's mime is a key prerequisite for this. OBJECTIVE: The following study aimed at evaluating the ability of subjects with 'peripheral facial paresis' to perceive emotions in healthy individuals. METHODS: A pilot study was conducted in which 13 people with 'peripheral facial paresis' participated. This assessment included the 'Facially Expressed Emotion Labeling-Test' (FEEL-Test), the 'Facial-Laterality-Recognition Test' (FLR-Test) and the 'Toronto-Alexithymie-Scale 26' (TAS 26). The results were compared with data of healthy people from other studies. RESULTS: In contrast to healthy patients, the subjects with 'facial paresis' show more difficulties in recognizing basic emotions; however the results are not significant. The participants show a significant lower level of speed (right/left: p<0.001) concerning the perception of facial laterality compared to healthy people. With regard to the alexithymia, the tested group reveals significantly higher results (p<0.001) compared to the unimpaired people. CONCLUSIONS: The present pilot study does not prove any impact on this specific patient group's ability to recognize emotions and facial laterality. For future studies the research question should be verified in a larger sample size.