Project Summary

Thank you for taking part in this study! The ability to recognise how another person is feeling is vitally important for social interactions. Misidentifying a persoons emotions can lead to misunderstandings, awkward or embrassing situations and possibly accidentally upsetting family member or friends. People who have problems recognising emotions may even try to avoid social situations entirely.

People with Parkinson’s disease can sometimes find it difficult to judge how another person is feeling. In a previous study we found that people with Parkinson’s disease had particular problems telling the difference between negative emotions such as fear, anxiety and anger. This problem is thought to be caused by damage in the parts of the brain that help understand the meaning of different facial expressions. In the current study we wanted to know whether Parkinson’s disease also made it harded to find faces with different emotional expressions when they appear in a crowd.

We predicted that people with Parkinsons will be similar to older people without Parkinsons disease when looking for faces showing positive emotions, such as happiness or surprise, but take longer to find faces showing negative emotions such as fear or anger. We also predicted that people with Parkinsons would make more errors. We hope the research will help us to understand the problems faced by people with illnesses like Parkinson’s Disease. In the longer term, improved knowledge of how Parkinson’s disease affects cognitive processes such as emotion recognition will help understand how to better support people with Parkinson’s disease and their families.

Withdrawing your data

It will not be possible to withdraw your data because it is completely anonymous, and it is impossible to identify which data is yours.

How your data will be used

In writing up the study, all data will be anonymised and your personally identifiable data will not be available to anyone outside the research team.  Your anonymised data may be archived for verification of the research results.

Questions about the ethics process

If you have any further questions or concerns about this study, please speak to the researcher whose contact information is provided at the top of this document. Alternatively, you may contact the Department of Psychology Ethics Chair. If you remain unhappy or wish to make a formal complaint, please follow the Department’s Complaints Procedure (if you are unable to access this document, please email the Ethics Secretary, who will provide you with a copy).

Further support

If you’re struggling or need support you may consider one of the following services:

Further information

More information about Professor Smith’s research into cognition in Parkinsons disease can be found on his webpage: Can cognitive tests differentiate PSP and Parkinson’s disease? | Motor Bias Project

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