Neurobiological mechanisms associated with facial affect recognition deficits after traumatic brain injury.

The neurobiological mechanisms that underlie facial affect recognition deficits after traumatic brain injury (TBI) have not yet been identified. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), study aims were to 1) determine if there are differences in brain activation during facial affect processing in people with TBI who have facial affect recognition impairments (TBI-I) relative to people with TBI and healthy controls who do not have facial affect recognition impairments (TBI-N and HC, respectively); and 2) identify relationships between neural activity and facial affect recognition performance. A facial affect recognition screening task performed outside the scanner was used to determine group classification; TBI patients who performed greater than one standard deviation below normal performance scores were classified as TBI-I, while TBI patients with normal scores were classified as TBI-N. An fMRI facial recognition paradigm was then performed within the 3T environment. Results from 35 participants are reported (TBI-I = 11, TBI-N = 12, and HC = 12). For the fMRI task, TBI-I and TBI-N groups scored significantly lower than the HC group. Blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signals for facial affect recognition compared to a baseline condition of viewing a scrambled face, revealed lower neural activation in the right fusiform gyrus (FG) in the TBI-I group than the HC group. Right fusiform gyrus activity correlated with accuracy on the facial affect recognition tasks (both within and outside the scanner). Decreased FG activity suggests facial affect recognition deficits after TBI may be the result of impaired holistic face processing. Future directions and clinical implications are discussed.

Simulation of traumatic brain injury symptoms on the Personality Assessment Inventory: an analogue study.

The purpose of this study was to characterize the operating characteristics of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) validity scales in distinguishing simulators feigning symptoms of traumatic brain injury (TBI) while completing the PAI (n = 84) from a clinical sample of patients with TBI who achieved adequate scores on performance validity tests (n = 112). The simulators were divided into two groups: (a) Specific Simulators feigning cognitive and somatic symptoms only or (b) Global Simulators feigning cognitive, somatic, and psychiatric symptoms. The PAI overreporting scales were indeed sensitive to the simulation of TBI symptoms in this analogue design. However, these scales were less sensitive to the feigning of somatic and cognitive TBI symptoms than the feigning of a broad range of cognitive, somatic, and emotional symptoms often associated with TBI. The relationships of TBI simulation to consistency and underreporting scales are also explored.

Neuroimaging and facial affect processing: implications for traumatic brain injury.

The ability to recognize others' emotions is critical to successful interpersonal interactions. Given its importance, there has been an extensive amount of research using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the neurobiological mechanisms associated with facial affect recognition in healthy individuals, and some in patient populations with affective disorders. Findings from these studies reveal that the underlying mechanisms involve a distributed neural network, engaging structures within limbic and subcortical regions, prefrontal cortex, temporal and parietal lobes, and occipital cortex. In the last several decades, researchers have become increasingly interested in how emotion recognition is affected after a traumatic brain injury (TBI), which often involves damage to these structures, as well as the neural circuitry connecting them. Not surprisingly, research has reliably demonstrated that facial affect recognition deficits are common after TBI. To date, however, no neuroimaging studies have investigated facial affect recognition deficits in the TBI population. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to consider how functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) might inform our knowledge about affect recognition deficits after TBI, and potentially enhance treatment approaches.

The role of depression in verbal memory following traumatic brain injury.

The purpose of this study was to characterize the relationship between verbal memory and depression scores on the Personality Assessment Inventory following traumatic brain injury. Depression was associated with diminished delayed recall and recognition on the California Verbal Learning Test-II (CVLT-II), even after controlling for a neuropsychological composite score and/or a measure of motivation (i.e., the TOMM). There was no relationship between depression and recall on Verbal Paired Associates or Logical Memory when controlling for the same covariates. The findings were most consistent with depressed subjects failing to utilize the semantic organization of the CVLT-II list to enhance their learning.