Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University, Tokyo, Japan.
J Neurol Sci. 2010 Mar 15;290(1-2):48-51. doi: 10.1016/j.jns.2009.11.011. Epub 2009 Dec 16.
In order to investigate the cognitive and neurological bases of social cognitive impairment in myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1), we examined the facial expression recognition abilities and the cerebral lesions in a group of DM 1 (5 men, 4 women). We measured sensitivity to facial emotions and compared the findings with magnetic resonance image (MRI) findings evaluated using a semi-quantitative method. The DM1 patients showed lower sensitivity to disgusted and angry faces as compared to the healthy controls. The assessment of brain lesions revealed that more severe lesions occurred in the frontal, temporal, and insular white matters. Sensitivity to the emotion of disgust was negatively correlated with temporal lesions, and sensitivity to anger negatively correlated with frontal, temporal, and insular lesions. The results of this study indicate an association between lesions in the frontal, temporal, and insular subcortices and decreased emotional sensitivity to disgust and anger in DM1 patients. These areas are thought to play an important role in emotional processing in the normal brain. Our results suggest that social cognitive impairment in DM1 patients is attributable to impaired emotional processing linked to white matter lesions.
为了探究 1 型肌强直性营养不良（DM1）患者社会认知障碍的认知和神经基础，我们研究了一组 DM1 患者（5 男，4 女）的面部表情识别能力和大脑病变。我们测量了对面部情绪的敏感性，并将研究结果与使用半定量方法评估的磁共振成像（MRI）结果进行了比较。与健康对照组相比，DM1 患者对厌恶和愤怒表情的敏感性较低。对大脑病变的评估表明，额叶、颞叶和脑岛白质的病变更严重。对厌恶情绪的敏感性与颞叶病变呈负相关，对愤怒的敏感性与额叶、颞叶和脑岛病变呈负相关。这项研究的结果表明，DM1 患者额叶、颞叶和脑岛皮质下区域的病变与对厌恶和愤怒情绪的敏感性降低有关。这些区域被认为在正常大脑的情绪处理中起着重要作用。我们的研究结果表明，DM1 患者的社会认知障碍归因于与白质病变相关的情绪处理受损。
