Age determines memory for face identity and expression

Abstract

Background: The recognition of facial expressions is an important component of emotion processing which contributes to interactional behavior. One of the factors highly associated with potential decline of ability in behavioral tasks is age. Methods: We have investigated age-related changes in facial identity and expression memory of healthy subjects in three age groups: young adults (20-40 years), elderly adults (60-80 years) and, for the first time in the literature, very old adults (over 80 years of age). Using a picture test, photographs of faces with happy or angry expressions were presented to study participants during the encoding task, and the memory for identity and emotional facial expression was investigated in a subsequent recognition task showing emotionally neutral faces. Half of the faces presented in the recognition task were initially shown in the encoding task. Results: Age interacted with the memory process: the ability to recognize both facial identity and emotional expression declined with advanced age. Happy facial expressions were better recognized in all age groups. Although there was a continuous overall decrease in recognition of both happy and angry expressions with advanced age, the effect favoring happy facial expressions was stable also in very old adults. Other factors such as gender or educational level did not affect the memory process for facial expressions. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that age is a significant determinant of memory for facial identity and emotional expression, and that, similar to younger adults, the recognition process of the elderly favors happy emotional facial expressions.

Antidepressive therapy with Escitalopram improves mood, cognitive symptoms, and identity memory for angry faces in elderly depressed patients

“…The latter is in accordance with our previous findings in healthy elderly subjects (Savaskan et al, 2007). Happy faces were found to be better recognized in all observed age groups (young adults : 20-40 yr ; elderly adults : 60-80 yr ; and very old adults : >80 yr) than angry faces (Savaskan et al, 2007). Although there was a continuous overall decrease in recognition of both happy and angry faces with advanced age in those healthy individuals, the effect favouring happy facial expressions was found to be stable in old and very old adults.…”

“…The main findings at baseline were a general reduction in memory performance in elderly depressed patients and a bias towards positive (happy) facial identities in healthy elderly controls. The latter is in accordance with our previous findings in healthy elderly subjects (Savaskan et al, 2007). Happy faces were found to be better recognized in all observed age groups (young adults : 20-40 yr ; elderly adults : 60-80 yr ; and very old adults : >80 yr) than angry faces (Savaskan et al, 2007).…”

“…Women were found to be more sensitive to happiness in male faces (Erwin et al, 1992) whereas later data have shown women to be more accurate at identifying male faces regardless of emotion (Rahman et al, 2004). Nevertheless, our previous data have shown that gender-related differences in facial identity may not have a significant impact in the elderly (Savaskan et al, 2007).…”

“…It has been suggested that antidepressant therapy may not directly affect mood but may initiate a cascade of changes in emotional processing, which ultimately affects low mood and anxiety through changes in social reinforcement and the detection of environmental threat (Harmer et al, 2006). Elderly subjects have an overall reduction in cognitive performance for identity memory (Savaskan et al, 2007), and therefore, elderly patients might need a longer treatment period to overcome the memory deficits for emotional stimuli. However, the positive effect of the SSRI on cognitive processing of negative stimuli may provide an additional clue in the treatment of depression.…”

“…The two emotional expressions ' happy' and 'angry ' were chosen because of their high social relevance in approach and avoidance dimensions. The generation of test material is described in detail in a previous study (Savaskan et al, 2007).…”