Evidence of an inferior total-order planning strategy in patients with frontotemporal dementia.
We investigated planning abilities in patients with frontal temporal dementia (FTD) and normal controls (NC) using a chore location planning task. Planning tasks with increasing complexity could be either solved by constructing a linear total plan (total-order planning) or partially ordered sub-plans (partial-order planning). The NC group appeared to use partial-order planning, while the FTD group appeared to use total-order planning based on error pattern in performance, task-solution, and planning time. Our results are a reminder that besides social impairments, FTD patients also demonstrate higher-order cognitive impairment in domains such as planning and that these impairments may also have a profound effect upon the patients' day-to-day functioning.
Krueger
Frank
F
Cognitive Neuroscience Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-1440, USA.
Rostami
Elham
E
Huey
Edward D
ED
Snyder
Andrew
A
Grafman
Jordan
J
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003210:Concept Formation / Q000502:physiology*; D003704:Dementia / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D016555:Matched-Pair Analysis; D008875:Middle Aged; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D055815:Young Adult