Neurological Disabilities Research Institute, Albacete, Spain.
Evolutionary Psychology and Education Department, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
J Alzheimers Dis. 2021;82(1):349-360. doi: 10.3233/JAD-210233.
No studies have been conducted to date on the dimensional and discrete classification of emotions to study the emotional reactivity of older adults with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Additionally, the presentation of film clips with affective content is currently one of the most effective and widely used Mood Induction Procedures (MIPS). However, it has been scarcely used in AD patients.
Based on the dimensional and discrete models of emotion, this study examines the emotional reactivity of older adults with AD, using a popular set of film clips to induce emotions.
We compared the responses of older adults aged over 65-years with mild to moderate AD (n = 15) and a healthy comparison group (n = 17) to six target emotions: disgust, fear, anger, sadness, amusement, and tenderness.
The results showed significant differences in the reactivity of fear, anger, and sadness between AD patients and healthy comparison group. However, the responses of the two groups to positive film clips were similar. Only in the amusement clip did the AD participants show a higher intensity response.
These findings suggest that the characteristic loss of cognitive abilities in AD is related to a reduction in the ability to react to emotional stimuli, especially negative ones. However, these abilities seem to be preserved when it comes to positive emotions. Future research is necessary to investigate whether the positivity effect is present in AD patients.
目前尚未有研究对情感的维度和离散分类进行研究，以探讨阿尔茨海默病（AD）老年患者的情绪反应性。此外，目前使用带有情感内容的电影片段来进行情绪诱导是最有效和广泛使用的情绪诱导程序（MIPS）之一。然而，在 AD 患者中很少使用。
本研究基于情感的维度和离散模型，使用一套流行的电影片段来诱发情感，研究 AD 老年患者的情绪反应性。
我们比较了年龄在 65 岁以上、患有轻度至中度 AD（n=15）和健康对照组（n=17）的老年人对六种目标情感（厌恶、恐惧、愤怒、悲伤、愉悦和温柔）的反应。
结果显示，AD 患者和健康对照组在恐惧、愤怒和悲伤的反应性上存在显著差异。然而，两组对积极电影片段的反应相似。只有在娱乐片段中，AD 参与者表现出更高的强度反应。
这些发现表明，AD 中特征性的认知能力丧失与对情绪刺激反应能力的降低有关，尤其是对负面情绪的反应能力。然而，当涉及到积极情绪时，这些能力似乎得到了保留。需要进一步研究以调查 AD 患者是否存在正性情绪效应。
