Authors:

Kipps, C.M, Duggins, A.J, McCusker, E.A, & CALDER, A.J.

Reference:

Year of publication:

2006

CBU number:

6435

Abstract:

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to test whether regional grey matter volume correlated with performance on emotion recognition tests in subjects with preclinical HD and controls BACKGROUND: Patients with Huntingtons disease (HD) can show disproportionate impairments in recognising facial signals of disgust, but the neural basis of this deficit remains unclear. Functional imaging studies have implicated the anterior insula in the ability to recognise disgust, but these studies have identified other structures as well, including the basal ganglia. DESIGN/METHODS: We used voxel-based morphometry (VBM, SPM2) to map regional variations in grey matter volume in subjects carrying the mutation for Huntingtons disease and age-matched controls, and correlated this with their performance on a test of facial emotion recognition for six basic emotions (disgust, fear, anger, happiness, sadness, surprise). RESULTS: The results showed that anteroventral insula volume was particularly correlated with performance on the disgust recognition task (r=0.66, p<0.005) in mutation-carriers. The amygdala (bilaterally) correlated with ability to recognise happy facial expressions (left: r=0.64, p<0.01 and right: r=0.55, p<0.05). There was marked specificity of the regional correlations for the particular emotion involved. There were no correlations with other emotion expressions or more general cognitive or motor performance as measured by a standard rating scale (UHDRS). CONCLUSIONS/RELEVANCE: The strong linear correlations for disgust and happiness recognition imply direct involvement of the anterior insula in disgust appreciation in Huntingtons disease, and a similar role for the amygdala in recognising happy facial expressions.