Zeitschrift für genetische Syndrome und Gentherapie
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Abstrakt

EEG Correlates of Emotional Experience in Huntington ’ s Disease

M de Tommaso, Serpino C, Cormio C, Sciruicchio V, Franco G, Ricci K, Lorenzo M and Livrea P

Recognizing negative emotions is impaired in Huntington’s disease (HD), while the subjective emotional involvement in affective pictures images is not completely known in these patients. We aimed to further evaluate emotional reaction in early HD patients, by means of subjective arousal and valence rating and EEG changes induced by International Affective Pictures (IAPS). We recruited 16 consecutive genetically confirmed HD outpatients, and 16 sex and age matched controls. Eighty-four color slides, 28 pleasant, 28 unpleasant and 28 neutral images, in random presentation, were chosen from the International Affective Picture System. EEG was recorded by 32 scalp electrodes. HD patients judged negative and positive affective images respectively more unpleasant and pleasant than controls. They also exhibited higher arousal for pictures, independently from their affective content. However, in HD patients we observed a reduced positivity in the 400-700 m.sec intervals during unpleasant pictures viewing. Present findings may suggest that emotional impact related to affective images is preserved in HD, but it coexists with impairment of late cortical processing following unpleasant stimuli.