These patients were much less accurate than the control participants (and even in comparison with Alzheimer's patients) in recognizing negative emotions, but were not significantly impaired in recognizing happiness. Anger and disgust in particular were the most difficult for the dementia patients to recognize.
Patients with dementia performed poorly at identifying negative emotions, falling short of both the control group and those diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. However, they showed no noticeable decline in recognizing happy expressions. Anger and disgust proved especially difficult for them to distinguish.