title: Theory of Mind in normal ageing and neurodegenerative pathologies.
abstract: This paper reviews findings in three subcomponents of social cognition (i.e., Theory of Mind, facial emotion recognition, empathy) during ageing. Changes over time in social cognition were evaluated in normal ageing and in patients with various neurodegenerative pathologies, such as Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment, frontal and temporal variants of frontotemporal lobar degeneration and Parkinson's disease. Findings suggest a decline in social cognition with normal ageing, a decline that is at least partially independent of a more general cognitive or executive decline. The investigation of neurodegenerative pathologies showing specific deficits in Theory of Mind in relation to damage to specific cerebral regions led us to suggest a neural network involved in Theory of Mind processes, namely a fronto-subcortical loop linking the basal ganglia to the regions of the frontal lobes.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Imagerie & Neurosciences Cognitives, UMR, CNRS - Université de Strasbourg, France. jennifer.kemp@etu.unistra.fr
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kemp
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Després
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sellal
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dufour
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003071:Cognition; D004644:Emotions; D004645:Empathy; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000503:physiopathology; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D012919:Social Behavior; D056345:Theory of Mind