Search Results (2)

The Facial Feedback Hypothesis (FFH) states that facial emotion recognition is based on the imitation of facial emotional expressions and the processing of physiological feedback. In the light of limited and contradictory evidence, this hypothesis is still being debated. Therefore, in the present study, emotion recognition was tested in patients with central facial paresis after stroke. Performance in facial vs. auditory emotion recognition was assessed in patients with vs. without facial paresis. The accuracy of objective facial emotion recognition was significantly lower in patients with vs. without facial paresis and also in comparison to healthy controls. Moreover, for patients with facial paresis, the accuracy measure for facial emotion recognition was significantly worse than that for auditory emotion recognition. Finally, in patients with facial paresis, the subjective judgements of their own facial emotion recognition abilities differed strongly from their objective performances. This pattern of results demonstrates a specific deficit in facial emotion recognition in central facial paresis and thus provides support for the FFH and points out certain effects of stroke. Full article

Cerebral venous and dural sinus thrombosis (CVT) is an uncommon disease in the general population, although it is a significant stroke type throughout pregnancy and the puerperium. Studies describing this subtype of CVT are limited. Most pregnancy-associated CVT happen in late pregnancy, or more commonly in the first postpartum weeks, being associated with venous thrombosis outside the nervous system. Case presentation: The current study describes a case of multiple CVT in a 38-year-old woman with multiple risk factors (including severe inherited thrombophilia and being in the puerperium period), presenting mixed transcortical aphasia (a rare type of aphasia) associated with right moderate hemiparesis and intracranial hypertension. The clinical diagnosis of CVT was confirmed by laboratory data and neuroimaging data from head computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and magnetic resonance venography. She was successfully treated with low-molecular-weight heparin (anticoagulation) and osmotic diuretics (mannitol) for increased intracranial pressure and cerebral edema. At discharge, after 15 days of evolution, she presented a partial recovery, with anomic plus aphasia and mild right hemiparesis. Clinical and imaging follow-up was performed at 6 months after discharge; our patient presented normal language and mild right central facial paresis, with chronic left thalamic, caudate nucleus, and internal capsule infarcts and a partial recanalization of the dural sinuses. Full article