A Comparison of Emotional Decoding Abilities in Patients with Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment, Very Mild and Mild Alzheimer’s Disease

Deficits in emotional decoding abilities were described in patients with Alzheimer's dementia and amnestic type of mild cognitive impairment (a-MCI). However the pattern of decline and its dependency on the type of emotional stimuli has not been investigated so far. In our study, 5 sets of cartoon-like drawings portraying various human emotions of increasing complexity were presented to patients with very mild and mild Alzheimer's dementia, a-MCI and control subjects. Patients with Alzheimer's dementia, a-MCI and control subjects decoded emotions with similar accuracy. The pattern of decoding abilities was similar in Alzheimer's dementia, a-MCI patients and healthy control subjects. Decoding abilities depended on a manner the emotional stimuli were presented.