The Perception of Emotion Portrayed Through Body Movements in MND
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigating the Perception of Emotion Portrayed Through Body Movement in Motor Neuron Disease; An E-MOTION Pilot Study
IRAS ID
237392
Contact name
Jonathan Evans
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
NA, NA
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 2 months, 30 days
Research summary
Background: Motor Neuron Disease (MND) is a degenerative condition, which disrupts signals sent from the brain to the muscles resulting in physical and intellectual problems. In the advanced stages of the disease, this fatal condition causes difficulties breathing and the heart can stop working. Some people with MND experience cognitive difficulties, and recent research suggests that that people with MND may have difficulties understanding the facial expressions and emotions of other people.
Aims: To date research has not yet explored whether people with MND have difficulties interpreting emotions portrayed by body movements. The current study aims to investigate whether MND affects the ability to interpret emotional body language.
Methods: Twenty control participants without neurological difficulties and twenty MND patients will be recruited for the study. Both groups will be asked to complete a test of basic motor skills, a test of reasoning skills and a questionnaire to identify psychological distress. Both groups will also complete tests of social skills and a new test, E-MOTION which asks people to interpret emotions portrayed by body movements. It is predicted that the MND group will perform significantly differently to the control group on the E-MOTION test. Statistical analysis will be used to compare performance of the healthy controls and participants with MND.
Applications: This research has the potential to improve our understanding of social difficulties people with MND may face. This may enable services to better support MND patients and their families. For example by educating services and families about how to support people with MND who may have difficulty understanding others emotions.
REC name
East Midlands - Nottingham 2 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/EM/0234
Date of REC Opinion
22 Aug 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion