Which term describes a lack of facial expression commonly seen in Parkinson disease?

• A. Masked Facies
• B. Blunted Affect
• C. Flat Affect
• D. Labile Affect

Answer: (A)

In Parkinson disease, the face often shows a reduced ability to express emotion through movement, giving a mask-like, expressionless appearance. This is called masked facies. It arises from bradykinesia and rigidity of the facial muscles, so the outward look doesn’t always match what the person is feeling internally.

Masked facies best captures this specific phenomenon of decreased facial expressivity. The other terms describe emotion in the face rather than the ability to express it: flat affect is a complete absence of emotional display, blunted affect is a reduced intensity of emotion shown, and labile affect is rapid, erratic changes in emotion. In Parkinson’s, the defining feature is the mask-like, limited facial movement rather than true changes in emotional experience.