Relationship between impulsivity and vocal emotion recognition following cerebellar stroke

Abstract

Background

Previous research has established a link between impulsivity and emotion recognition across various pathologies, highlighting the cerebellum's role in both impulsive behavior and vocal emotion processing. However, the relationship between these factors in patients with chronic cerebellar stroke remains unexplored.

Aim

This study aimed to investigate whether impulsivity predicts the auditory recognition of emotions previously identified as deficient—specifically anger, sadness, and neutral—in cerebellar stroke patients.

Methods

We conducted LASSO regressions using data extracted from the dataset of the CEREBEMO project, which assessed emotional prosody recognition through a validated task. The analysis included the French-validated Urgency-Premeditation-Perseverance-Sensation Seeking (UPPS) impulsivity scale, with a sample of 26 patients.

Results

Results revealed significant effects of sensation seeking, urgency and lack of premeditation scores on the emotional prosody recognition of anger and sadness stimuli. Significant effects of gender, age, lesion side and time since the stroke on emotional prosody performances were also found.

Conclusions

Impulsivity can predict the ability to identify vocal emotions among patients in the chronic phase following cerebellar stroke. These insights suggest that addressing impulsivity may enhance emotional recognition capabilities and, consequently, improve social functioning in this population.