title: Self-Consciousness in Patients with Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia.
abstract: Self-consciousness (SC) is multifaceted and considered to be the consciousness of one's own mental states. The medial prefrontal cortex may play a critical role in SC. The main aim of this paper was to examine SC in patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, who are characterized more by changes in personal, social, and emotional conduct and loss of insight than by cognitive disturbances. Control and patient groups of 21 subjects each, matched by age, educational level, gender, and nationality were assessed using a SC questionnaire. It measures several aspects: Personal identity, Anosognosia, Affective state, Body representation, Prospective memory, Introspection, and Moral judgments. The most disturbed ones in patients were Anosognosia, Affective state, and Moral judgments, and the least disturbed aspects were awareness of identity and of body representation. No significant correlations were found between the SC score and any clinical or demographical characteristics. The core deficiency of SC in patients was related to behavioral SC aspects, which are more dependent on orbito-frontal functioning.
authors.affiliation: University of Salamanca, Department of Psychobiology, Neuroscience Institute of Castilla-León, Salamanca, Spain.
authors.forename: Eva M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Arroyo-Anlló
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital, CHU La Milétrie, Poitiers, France.
authors.forename: Adèle Turpin
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Bouston
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital, CHU La Milétrie, Poitiers, France.
authors.forename: Marie-Noëlle
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Fargeau
authors.affiliation: University of Salamanca, Department of Methodology of Behavior Sciences, Salamanca, Spain.
authors.forename: Begõna
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Orgaz Baz
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital, CHU La Milétrie, Poitiers, France.
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gil
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D057180:Frontotemporal Dementia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D008875:Middle Aged; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012649:Self Concept
keywords: Awareness; behavioral; executive functions; prefrontal