Emotional Recognition from Face, Voice, and Music in Dementia of the Alzheimer Type

Journal

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

Year

2009

First Page

342

Last Page

345

Abstract

Persons with dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) are impaired in recognizing emotions from face and voice. Yet clinical practitioners use these mediums to communicate with DAT patients. Music is also used in clinical practice, but little is known about emotional processing from music in DAT. This study aims to assess emotional recognition in mild DAT. Seven patients with DAT and 16 healthy elderly adults were given three tasks of emotional recognition for face, prosody, and music. DAT participants were only impaired in the emotional recognition from the face. These preliminary results suggest that dynamic auditory emotions are preserved in DAT.

Music and Health Institute Terms

Alzheimer's and Related Dementias; Elderly; Neurodegenerative Disorders

Indexed Terms

Elderly; Alzheimer Disease; Emotions; Face; Recognition, Psychology; Voice

Study Type

Case Study; Qualitative Methods

Disciplines

Neurology

PubMed ID

19673804

Document Type

Article

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