Assessment of socioemotional processes facilitates the distinction between frontotemporal lobar degeneration and Alzheimer's disease.
We explored the value of a battery of socioemotional tasks for differentiating between frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Patients with FTLD (n = 13) or AD (n = 13) and healthy controls (n = 26) underwent a neuropsychological assessment and the socioemotional battery (an empathy questionnaire, an emotion recognition task, and theory of mind tasks). Socioemotional processes were markedly impaired in FTLD but relatively unaffected in mild AD. The computed Socioemotional Index discriminated more accurately between FTLD from AD than behavioral and executive assessments did. Furthermore, impairments in socioemotional processes were correlated with indifference to others.
a Laboratoire de Neurosciences Fonctionnelles et Pathologies (EA 4559), Département de Médecine , Université de Picardie Jules Verne , Amiens , France.
Pauline
P
Narme
Harold
H
Mouras
Martine
M
Roussel
Agnès
A
Devendeville
Olivier
O
Godefroy
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D004645:Empathy / Q000502:physiology; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D057174:Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012372:ROC Curve; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology; D012919:Social Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D056345:Theory of Mind