title: Social cognition in frontal lobe epilepsy.
abstract: This study investigated the social cognitive functioning of patients with frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE), using a range of procedures that have shown impairments in patients following focal prefrontal brain lesions. Fourteen participants with FLE were compared with 14 healthy controls on story tests of theory of mind (ToM), faux pas appreciation, mental and physical state cartoon humor appreciation, facial emotional recognition, and the ability to perceive eye gaze expression. They were not impaired on story tests of ToM and showed only a trend toward impairment on a test of faux pas appreciation. They were impaired on humor appreciation, with both mental and physical state cartoons, and on their recognition of facial emotion and perception of eye gaze expression. Hence the patients with FLE exhibited impairments on tests of social cognition following a distinct pattern, with relatively preserved ToM, but impaired humor appreciation and ability to detect emotional expression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK.
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Farrant
authors.forename: Robin G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: Tamara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Russell
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Elwes
authors.forename: Nozomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Akanuma
authors.forename: Gonzalo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Alarcón
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koutroumanidis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004644:Emotions; D017034:Epilepsy, Frontal Lobe / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D005123:Eye; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012919:Social Behavior; D012938:Social Perception; D013686:Telemetry; D014888:Wechsler Scales; D014925:Wit and Humor as Topic / Q000523:psychology