title: Differential Cognitive and Affective Theory of Mind Abilities at Mild and Moderate Stages of Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the affective and cognitive components of theory of mind (ToM) performance in patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), focusing on differential impairment at mild and moderate disease stages.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  ToM, a central capacity for appropriate social behavior, is critically impaired in patients with bvFTD, even early in the disease. No previous study has explored how the cognitive and affective components of ToM may relate differentially to disease severity.
  
  
  METHODS
  We assessed 40 patients with an established diagnosis of bvFTD and 18 healthy controls, using a complete neuropsychological battery that featured executive function and ToM tasks. We used patients' Clinical Dementia Rating scores to classify them as having either mild or moderate bvFTD.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both groups of patients showed deficits in the affective and cognitive components of ToM relative to the controls. The patients with mild bvFTD outperformed the group with moderate bvFTD in cognitive ToM capacities; however, affective ToM was equally impaired in both bvFTD groups. The cognitive, but not the affective, component of ToM correlated with performance on the executive function tests.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that affective ToM is markedly diminished even during the initial stages of bvFTD; as the disease progresses, deficits in cognitive ToM become more prominent. These findings may relate to the pattern of cortical atrophy described for bvFTD. We also found significant correlations between the cognitive component of ToM and executive functions.
authors.affiliation: *Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO), Buenos Aires, Argentina †UDP-INECO Foundation Core on Neuroscience, Diego Portales University (UDP), Santiago, Chile ‡Institute of Neurosciences, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina §Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia ∥Department of Neurology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina ¶National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Torralva
authors.forename: Ezequiel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gleichgerrcht
authors.forename: María Juliana
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Torres Ardila
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roca
authors.forename: Facundo F
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Manes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D032882:Comprehension; D018450:Disease Progression; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D057180:Frontotemporal Dementia / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D056345:Theory of Mind