INTACT RECOGNITION OF FACIAL EMOTION IN PARKINSONS-DISEASE

Although the basal ganglia have been shown to be critical for the expr ession of emotion in prosody and facial expressions, it is unclear whe ther they are also critical for recognition of emotions. Selective pat hology of parts of the basal ganglia is a hallmark of individuals with Parkinson's disease, and such patients have been examined in several studies of emotion. We examined 18 patients with Parkinson's disease ( 11 men, 7 women) and 13 age-, education-, gender ratio-, and IQ-matche d normal controls on their ability to recognize emotions signaled by f acial expressions. Parkinson's patients performed entirely normally on a quantitative task of recognizing emotional facial expressions. The findings do not support the notion that the sectors of basal ganglia t hat are dysfunctional in Parkinson's disease are essential for recogni zing emotion in facial expressions.