Interventions for deficits in recognition of emotions in facial expressions in major depressive disorder: An updated systematic review of clinical trials

José Augusto Silva Reis; Giordano Novak Rossi; Flávia L Osório; José Carlos Bouso; Jaime Eduardo Cecílio Hallak; Rafael Guimarães Dos Santos

doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105367

Interventions for deficits in recognition of emotions in facial expressions in major depressive disorder: An updated systematic review of clinical trials

Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2023 Oct:153:105367. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105367. Epub 2023 Aug 22.

Authors

José Augusto Silva Reis¹, Giordano Novak Rossi², Flávia L Osório³, José Carlos Bouso⁴, Jaime Eduardo Cecílio Hallak⁵, Rafael Guimarães Dos Santos⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: jose.augusto.reis@usp.br.
² Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: gionorossi@gmail.com.
³ Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University São Paulo, SP, Brazil; National Institute for Translational Medicine (INCT-TM), CNPq, Brazil. Electronic address: flaliosorio@gmail.com.
⁴ Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University São Paulo, SP, Brazil; International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research, and Service (ICEERS), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Psychology and Research Center for Behavior Assessment (CRAMC), Tarragona, Spain. Electronic address: jcbouso@iceers.org.
⁵ Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University São Paulo, SP, Brazil; National Institute for Translational Medicine (INCT-TM), CNPq, Brazil; International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research, and Service (ICEERS), Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: jhallak@fmrp.usp.br.
⁶ Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University São Paulo, SP, Brazil; National Institute for Translational Medicine (INCT-TM), CNPq, Brazil; International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research, and Service (ICEERS), Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: banisteria@gmail.com.

PMID: 37619644
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105367

Abstract

The recognition of emotions in facial expressions (REFE) is a core construct of social cognition. In the last decades, studies have showed that REFE is altered in major depressive disorder (MDD), but the evidence is conflicting. Thus, we conducted a systematic review of clinical trials involving therapeutic interventions in MDD and any evaluation of REFE to update (2018-2023) and systematically evaluate the evidence derived from controlled clinical trials on the effects of therapeutic strategies to MDD on the REFE. Eleven studies were included in the final review. Some interventions, including drugs (ketamine, bupropion, psylocibin) and non-pharmacological strategies (psychotherapy) seem to be able to reduce pre-existing REFE biases in MDD patients. However, there was a high heterogeneity in the evaluated studies, in terms of sample, interventions, tasks and results. Further studies and more consistent evaluation tools are highly needed to better understand nuanced deficits and specific actions of different treatment options.

Keywords: Depression; Emotion processing; Facial expressions; Social cognition.

Publication types

Review