Anna Rita Giovagnoli1, Brian Bell2,3, Alessandra Erbetta4, Chiara Paterlini5, Orso Bugiani5. 1. Unit of Neurology - Neuropathology, Department of Diagnostics and Applied Technology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy. annarita.giovagnoli@istituto-besta.it. 2. Charles Matthews Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA. 3. W.S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, Madison, WI, USA. 4. Unit of Neuroradiology, Department of Diagnostics and Applied Technology, Fondazione IRCCS Neurological Institute Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy. 5. Unit of Neurology - Neuropathology, Department of Diagnostics and Applied Technology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and theory of mind (ToM) have common neuroanatomical aspects. This pilot study analyzed the qualitative features of ToM relatively to the site of prefrontal atrophy, aiming to identify a neurobehavioral pattern of bvFTD. METHOD: Fourteen bvFTD patients were compared with 14 healthy subjects with similar age, years of schooling, gender distribution, and social background. The faux pas task (FPT) measured the recognition and comprehension of faux pas (FP) and awareness of the factual details on 20 stories. Magnetic resonance assessed prefrontal atrophy. RESULTS: The bvFTD patients were significantly impaired in FP recognition and comprehension and in attribution of non-existent FP. Qualitative analysis revealed five types of errors: misidentification of characters, misidentification of emotions, excessive cohesiveness to the factual context, delusional interpretations, and non-responses. The FPT recognition and comprehension scores were unrelated to story factual details or other neuropsychological performance. Conversely, the FP comprehension scores related to disease duration, the delusional errors to disease duration and prefrontal orbital atrophy, and the cohesiveness errors to age and prefrontal dorsolateral atrophy. CONCLUSIONS: In bvFTD, ToM is characterized by misinterpretation of mental states and concrete thinking, which is related to disease severity and distinct areas of prefrontal atrophy. This neurobehavioral pattern may be a marker for bvFDT.
OBJECTIVE: Behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and theory of mind (ToM) have common neuroanatomical aspects. This pilot study analyzed the qualitative features of ToM relatively to the site of prefrontal atrophy, aiming to identify a neurobehavioral pattern of bvFTD. METHOD: Fourteen bvFTD patients were compared with 14 healthy subjects with similar age, years of schooling, gender distribution, and social background. The faux pas task (FPT) measured the recognition and comprehension of faux pas (FP) and awareness of the factual details on 20 stories. Magnetic resonance assessed prefrontal atrophy. RESULTS: The bvFTD patients were significantly impaired in FP recognition and comprehension and in attribution of non-existent FP. Qualitative analysis revealed five types of errors: misidentification of characters, misidentification of emotions, excessive cohesiveness to the factual context, delusional interpretations, and non-responses. The FPT recognition and comprehension scores were unrelated to story factual details or other neuropsychological performance. Conversely, the FP comprehension scores related to disease duration, the delusional errors to disease duration and prefrontal orbital atrophy, and the cohesiveness errors to age and prefrontal dorsolateral atrophy. CONCLUSIONS: In bvFTD, ToM is characterized by misinterpretation of mental states and concrete thinking, which is related to disease severity and distinct areas of prefrontal atrophy. This neurobehavioral pattern may be a marker for bvFDT.
Entities:
Keywords:
Cognitive impairment; Executive functions; Orbital cortex; Social cognition; Theory of mind