Can the Ability to Recognize Facial Emotions in Individuals With Neurodegenerative Disease be Improved? A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Facial emotion recognition (FER) is commonly impaired in individuals with neurodegenerative disease (NDD). This impairment has been linked to an increase in behavioral disorders and caregiver burden.

Objective: To identify interventions targeting the improvement of FER ability in individuals with NDD and investigate the magnitude of the efficacy of the interventions. We also wanted to explore the duration of the effects of the intervention and their possible impacts on behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia and caregiver burden.

Method: We included 15 studies with 604 individuals who had been diagnosed with NDD. The identified interventions were categorized into three types of approach (cognitive, neurostimulation, and pharmacological) as well as a combined approach (neurostimulation with pharmacological).

Results: The three types of approaches pooled together had a significant large effect size for FER ability improvement (standard mean difference: 1.21, 95% CI = 0.11, 2.31, z = 2.15, P = 0.03). The improvement lasted post intervention, in tandem with a decrease in behavioral disorders and caregiver burden.

Conclusion: A combination of different approaches for FER ability improvement may be beneficial for individuals with NDD and their caregivers.