title: Evidence for deficits on different components of theory of mind in Huntington's disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The main aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Huntington's disease (HD) on cognitive and affective Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities. The relation of ToM performance and executive functions was also examined.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighteen HD patients, early in the course of the disease, and 18 healthy volunteers matched for age and educational levels, were given two tasks: a nonverbal cognitive ToM task assessing attribution of intentions to others and a revised version of the 'Reading the Mind in the Eyes' test, which is an affective ToM task assessing the understanding of other people's mental states from their eyes. Participants were also given various executive tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The two ToM tasks revealed a significant impairment of ToM abilities in HD patients. Executive functioning was impaired in the HD group and ToM performance on the attribution of intentions task was dependent on several executive processes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results are consistent with the idea that both cognitive and affective aspects of ToM could be impaired in HD patients, indicating that cortico-subcortical circuits are underlying higher social functions such as ToM. The results are also consistent with the idea that only a few executive mechanisms regulate the ToM abilities we tested in this work. They also provide a basis for the understanding of the disorganized behavior and the breakdown of interpersonal relationships in daily life after HD.
authors: Laboratory of Psychology and Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Angers, France. PhAllain@chu-angers.fr
authors: Philippe
authors: P
authors: Allain
authors: Valérie
authors: V
authors: Havet-Thomassin
authors: Christophe
authors: C
authors: Verny
authors: Bénédicte
authors: B
authors: Gohier
authors: Céline
authors: C
authors: Lancelot
authors: Jérémy
authors: J
authors: Besnard
authors: Luciano
authors: L
authors: Fasotti
authors: Didier
authors: D
authors: Le Gall
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D056345:Theory of Mind / Q000502:physiology*