Neuroscientists say that the emotion-recognition function among patients with Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia is likely to be influenced by dopamine levels located in the brain.
Dopamine and Emotion Recognition Skill
Dopamine, commonly known as the 'happy hormone,' is a neurological compound that is responsible for regulating the data associated with emotions and other mental responses of the brain. In various studies, this chemical is measured and analyzed for its apparent connection with the state of cognitive health, particularly in people who are affected with mental illnesses such as Parkinson's disease.
Low or disrupted dopamine levels in these patients deteriorate not just their cognitive state, but also their social skills that are used for everyday activities.
The study, led by scholars from the University of Birmingham, is the first to identify the strongest evidence of an association between dopamine rates and the ability of individuals to recognize emotions.
The Institute's Center for Human Brain Health discovered that when dopamine levels are manipulated, the emotion recognition skill of a person could shift significantly. Surprisingly, the authors observed that low-baseline people who had their 'chemical messenger' modified and boosted had an improved case in emotion recognition compared to people who naturally have baseline levels.
Birmingham's School of Psychology expert and lead author of the study Bianca Schuster explained in a press release that the ability to recognize emotions from other people is a crucial skill for our everyday life as it is the most defining factor of social skills, but is often impeded in patients of neurological disorders.
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Altering Happy Hormone Baseline Levels Influence Recognition of Emotion in Others
The research demonstrates how dopamine medications, even in small doses, could actually influence the specified abilities by ensuring the balance of their social functions and the control over the symptoms they experience, Schuster continued.
In the experiments, about 33 healthy individuals were enrolled. The participants included male and female subjects and were all assessed with their baseline dopamine levels. Tests for the happy hormone rates include challenges for their working memory that did not require any brain imaging techniques, Science Daily reports.
Each of the participants was asked to observe and determine the emotions shown through figures in various video clips. The observation part ran for two separate sessions. In the first phase, the participants were given a dose of a common drug for schizophrenia called haloperidol. The second phase had the participants administered a placebo medication.
Among the group, individuals who had low working memory and a low baseline of dopamine levels had their emotions improved after being given haloperidol. On the other hand, people with a higher baseline of the brain chemical had much worse performance when under the influence of the same medication.
Further studies will be carried out to determine the association of dopamine levels in other emotion recognition tasks. The study was published in the journal JNeurosci, titled "Dopaminergic modulation of dynamic emotion perception."
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