Masked Faces in Parkinson Disease: Mechanism & Treatment

描述(由申请人提供)：这项研究的总体目标是提高对神经系统疾病患者非语言沟通障碍的理解。面部表情是一种复杂的信号，很简短，只持续几分钟，对传达意图、动机和情绪状态很重要。在人类中，各种神经和精神疾病改变了使用面部信号的倾向。事实上，面部表情减退，或“面具脸”是帕金森氏病的主要特征之一，帕金森氏病是一种主要影响老年人的神经退行性基底节疾病。经典的观点认为，帕金森氏症代表了一种损害自发(边缘)面部情绪，同时保持故意摆姿势(皮质)面部表情完好无损的“模型系统”。使用计算机成像方法量化面部动态运动变化的初步数据初步表明，这种分离可能是没有根据的(Bowers等人，在出版中)。这项拟议的研究的目的是应用计算机成像方法来了解：(A)帕金森患者面部表情能力下降是否涉及影响意志和自发情绪的调节缺陷；(B)这些调节缺陷是否与多巴胺能缺乏有关；以及(C)通过行为干预治疗帕金森病呼吸强度，面部表情能力的哪些参数(时间、频率、熵)得到改善。综上所述，这项研究的发现可能有助于理解帕金森病面部表情能力减弱的机制，并提供最终可能对治疗非语言交流障碍有用的信息。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of this research is to improve understanding of nonverbal communication disorders among patients with neurologic disease. Facial expressions are complex signals that are brief, last only a few minutes and important for communicating intention, motivation, and emotional states. In humans a variety of neurologic and psychiatric conditions alter the propensity to use facial signals. In fact, diminished facial expressivity, or the "masked face" is one of the cardinal features of Parkinson's disease, a neurodegenerative basal ganglia disorder that primarily affects older adults. Classically, it has been held that Parkinson's disease represents a "model system" for impairing spontaneous (limbic) facial emotions, whilst leaving intentionally posed (cortical) facial expressions intact. Preliminary data, using computer imaging methods to quantify dynamic movement changes over the face, tentatively suggests that this dissociation may be unfounded (Bowers et al., in press). The purpose of the proposed research is to apply computing imaging methods to learn: (a) whether diminished facial expressivity among Parkinson patients involves modulatory defects that influence both volitional and spontaneous emotions; (b) whether these modulatory defects are related to dopaminergic deficiency, and (c) which parameters of facial expressivity (timing, frequency, entropy) are improved by a behavioral intervention for treating respiratory strength in PD. Taken together, the findings from this study may facilitate understanding of the mechanisms underlying diminished facial expressivity in Parkinson's disease and provide information that may ultimately be useful in the treatment of nonverbal communication disturbances.