2019 Volume 39 Issue 2 Pages 229-236
We examined relationships between a quantitative analysis of facial expressions and the questionnaire or behavior rating scale of 38 patients with right hemisphere damage, 34 patients with left hemisphere damage, and 12 patients with bilateral hemisphere damage. The Facial Expression Coding System (FACES) was used to evaluate facial expressions and the Japanese version of the Apathy Evaluation Scale Informant version (AES-I-J) , Clinical Assessment for Spontaneity (CAS) , and Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) were used for evaluate motivation and psychiatric symptoms. Patients with right hemisphere damage showed a significant loss of motivation compared with patients with other hemisphere damage. The expression on FACES were highly correlated with the motivation or psychiatric symptom scores of AES-I-J, CAS, and NPI, as seen in the following pairs: sadness (FACES) and depression (NPI) , happiness (FACES) and euphoria (NPI) , indifference (FACES) and total score (AES-I-J) , indifference (FACES) and total score (CAS) , indifference (FACES) and indifference (NPI) . The expressions on FACES were highly correlated with rating scales of motivation and psychiatric symptoms. Consequently, FACES could be useful for evaluating emotional states after cerebral damage. Patients with right hemisphere damage showed high scores for surprise, happiness, and indifference. Patients with left hemisphere damage showed high scores for sadness only. The results suggest that patients with right hemisphere damage show positive emotional valence, whereas those with left hemisphere damage show negative emotional valence on FACES.
