Perception of Music and Facial and Vocal Emotions in a Population With and Without Depression

Perception of Music and Facial and Vocal Emotions in a Population With and Without Depression

Depressed subjects display a cognitive bias of information processing and emotional self-regulation, which reinforces negative experiences more than positive ones, known as the negativity bias. The link between depressive disorder and negativity bias has been much studied in terms of genetic, neurobiology, structural and functional neuroanatomy and cognitive sciences. It has been admitted that depressed subjects show impairment of facial expressions and prosody recognition, and of implicit memory.

Induction of depressive or elated mood with musical excerpts listening in healthy subjects influences facial emotions perception, respectively by reducing or enhancing recognition skills. However, no study to date already explored the interest of music-induced positive mood for alleviating negativity bias in depressed elderly population.

Main objective : to assess the impact of exposure to positive valence musical excerpts, on evaluation of facial emotions intensity, in a population of elderly patients hospitalized for depression, compared to neutral valence music listening.

Secondary objectives : to assess the impact of exposure to positive valence musical excerpts, on facial and vocal emotions recognition, and on implicit memory of faces, compared to neutral valence music listening.

The same methodology is also applied in a sample of control participants over 65 years to study the mood induction effect by music in elderlies.

The duration of the study, from first to last included subject, is estimated at 6 months, from January to June 2022. Each subject will participate for a period of 5 to 10 days.

Depressed group subjects will be pre-selected from all consecutive patients hospitalized or seen in consultation in geronto-psychiatric ward at Centre Hospitalier Le Vinatier, who agreed to participate in research. Patients will pass a basic cognitive task (MMSE) during the inclusion visit.

Healthy controls will be selected from relatives of patients admitted in Centre Hospitalier Le Vinatier, who agreed to participate in research.

Once included, subjects will be randomized, and will remain blind to study hypotheses until the study end.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Men and Women between the ages of 18 and 60 years old
• Major depressive episode of moderate to strong intensity, according to DSM-5 criteria, diagnosed by a Psychiatrist for subjects with depression ; GDS < 5 for healthy subjects
• Being fluent in French

Exclusion Criteria:

• - Neurodegenerative disorder
• Cognitive impairments (MMSE<26)
• Sensory loss not sufficiently corrected, compromising the perception of oral instructions or visual or auditory stimuli
• Impairment of awareness or attentional abilities restricting completion of cognitive tasks lasting 40 minutes.

And for Patients with depressive episode:

• Psychotic or catatonic features of current depressive episode
• Comorbid psychiatric disorder other than major unipolar depressive or anxiety disorders
• Current treatment by electroconvulsive therapy