title: Theory of Mind and Its Neuropsychological and Quality of Life Correlates in the Early Stages of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.
abstract: This study aims to explore the potential impairment of Theory of Mind (ToM; i.e., the ability to represent cognitive and affective mental states to both self and others) and the clinical, neuropsychological and Quality of Life (QoL) correlates of these cognitive abnormalities in the early stages of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a multisystem neurodegenerative disease recently recognized as a part of the same clinical and pathological spectrum of frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Twenty-two consecutive, cognitively intact ALS patients, and 15 healthy controls, underwent assessment of executive, verbal comprehension, visuospatial, behavioral, and QoL measures, as well as of the ToM abilities by Emotion Attribution Task (EAT), Advanced Test of ToM (ATT), and Eyes Task (ET). ALS patients obtained significantly lower scores than controls on EAT and ET. No significant difference was found between the two groups on ATT. As regard to type of ALS onset, patients with bulbar onset performed worse than those with spinal onset on ET. Correlation analysis revealed that EAT and ET were positively correlated with education, memory prose, visuo-spatial performances, and "Mental Health" scores among QoL items. Our results suggest that not only "cognitive" but also "affective" subcomponents of ToM may be impaired in the early stages of ALS, with significant linkage to disease onset and dysfunctions of less executively demanding conditions, causing potential impact on patients' "Mental Health."
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Metabolic and Aging Sciences - MRI Research Center SUN-FISM, Università degli Studi della Campania "L. Vanvitelli" Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Trojsi
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Metabolic and Aging Sciences - MRI Research Center SUN-FISM, Università degli Studi della Campania "L. Vanvitelli"Naples, Italy; Department of Psychology, Università degli Studi della Campania "L. Vanvitelli"Caserta, Italy.
authors.forename: Mattia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Siciliano
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Metabolic and Aging Sciences - MRI Research Center SUN-FISM, Università degli Studi della Campania "L. Vanvitelli" Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Russo
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Università degli Studi della Campania "L. Vanvitelli" Caserta, Italy.
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Passaniti
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Metabolic and Aging Sciences - MRI Research Center SUN-FISM, Università degli Studi della Campania "L. Vanvitelli" Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Cinzia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Femiano
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Metabolic and Aging Sciences - MRI Research Center SUN-FISM, Università degli Studi della Campania "L. Vanvitelli" Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ferrantino
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Metabolic and Aging Sciences - MRI Research Center SUN-FISM, Università degli Studi della Campania "L. Vanvitelli" Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De Liguoro
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Metabolic and Aging Sciences - MRI Research Center SUN-FISM, Università degli Studi della Campania "L. Vanvitelli" Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lavorgna
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Metabolic and Aging Sciences - MRI Research Center SUN-FISM, Università degli Studi della Campania "L. Vanvitelli" Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Monsurrò
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Metabolic and Aging Sciences - MRI Research Center SUN-FISM, Università degli Studi della Campania "L. Vanvitelli" Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Gioacchino
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tedeschi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Università degli Studi della Campania "L. Vanvitelli" Caserta, Italy.
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Santangelo
keywords: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; emotion attribution; quality of life; social cognition; theory of mind