Emotion recognition impairments in people with dementia are associated with lower physiological linkage with caregivers.

Abstract

Coordinated peripheral nervous system activity during interactions (i.e., physiological linkage) provides an indirect measure of social connection. Reduced levels of physiological linkage have been found during interactions between people with dementia (PWDs) and their caregivers. This may occur due to emotional deficits in PWDs; however, the specific emotional impairments that impact linkage have not been determined. In a sample of 42 caregiver-PWD dyads, we quantified physiological linkage as the correlations between the PWD's and caregiver's physiological responses (computed using a composite of six physiological measures) during a conflict conversation. PWD socioemotional impairments were evaluated via caregiver reports assessing emotion recognition (recognizing emotions in others) and positive and negative emotional reactivity (generating emotional reactions). We predicted that PWDs with poorer socioemotional functioning would have lower physiological linkage with their caregivers. Results indicated that lower physiological linkage was associated with lower emotion recognition but not with positive or negative emotional reactivity in PWDs. Emotion recognition may play an important role in both physiological and interpersonal connections between PWDs and their caregivers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).