scholarly journals Social Cognition Deficits Are Pervasive across Both Classical and Overlap Frontotemporal Dementia Syndromes

2020 ◽  
pp. 115-126
Author(s):  
Faheem Arshad ◽  
Avanthi Paplikar ◽  
Shailaja Mekala ◽  
Feba Varghese ◽  
Vandana Valiyaparambath Purushothaman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Emotion Recognition ◽  
Frontotemporal Dementia ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Primary Progressive Aphasia ◽  
Reactivity Index ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Significant Impairment

<b><i>Objectives:</i></b> Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) syndromes are a complex group of disorders characterised by profound changes in behaviour and cognition. Many of the observed behavioural abnormalities are now recognised to be due to impaired social cognition. While deficits in emotion recognition and empathy are well-recognised in behavioural-variant (Bv)FTD, limited information exists about the nature of social cognitive impairment in the language variant primary progressive aphasia (PPA) that includes progressive non-fluent aphasia (PNFA) and semantic dementia (SD), and in the motor variants FTD amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FTD-ALS) and FTD progressive supranuclear palsy (FTD-PSP). This prospective study sought to explore the nature and profile of social cognition deficits across the spectrum of FTD. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Sixty patients on the FTD spectrum, i.e., classical (16 with BvFTD and 20 with PPA) and overlap FTD syndromes (13 with FTD-ALS and 11 with FTD-PSP) were evaluated by means of the social cognition tasks, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) for empathy, and pictures of facial affect (POFA) for emotion recognition. General cognition and behaviour were also assessed. <b><i>Results:</i></b> A significant impairment in emotion recognition and empathy was detected in both the classical and overlap FTD syndromes. The recognition of positive emotions was relatively preserved compared to that of negative emotions. Among the FTD subtypes, maximal impairment of empathy was demonstrated in FTD-PSP. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Social cognition impairment is pervasive across the spectrum of FTD disorders, and tests of emotion recognition and empathy are clinically useful to identify the nature of behavioural problems in both classical and overlap FTD. Our findings also have implications for understanding the neural basis of social cognition in FTD.

scholarly journals Tryptophan-enriched diet or 5-hydroxytryptophan supplementation given in a randomized controlled trial impacts social cognition on a neural and behavioral level

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Zamoscik ◽  
S. N. L. Schmidt ◽  
R. Bravo ◽  
L. Ugartemendia ◽  
T. Plieger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Emotion Recognition ◽  
Information Integration ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Recognition Task ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Supramarginal Gyrus ◽  
Age Related

AbstractUnderstanding of emotions and intentions are key processes in social cognition at which serotonin is an important neuromodulator. Its precursor is the essential amino acid tryptophan (TRP). Reduced TRP availability leads to weaker impulse control ability and higher aggression, while TRP supplementation promotes confidence. In a double-blind placebo-controlled fMRI study with 77 healthy adults, we investigated the influence of a 4 week TRP enriched diet and an acute 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) intake on two social-cognitive tasks, a moral evaluation and an emotion recognition task. With 5-HTP, immoral behavior without negative consequences was rated as more reprehensible. Additionally, during story reading, activation in insula and supramarginal gyrus was increased after TRP intake. No significant effects of TRP on emotion recognition were identified for the whole sample. Importantly, emotion recognition ability decreased with age which was for positive emotions compensated by TRP. Since the supramarginal gyrus is associated with empathy, pain and related information integration results could be interpreted as reflecting stricter evaluation of negative behavior due to better integration of information. Improved recognition of positive emotions with TRP in older participants supports the use of a TRP-rich diet to compensate for age related decline in social-cognitive processes.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Affective Social Tasks in the Clinical Classification Between the Behavioral Variant of Frontotemporal Dementia and Other Neurodegenerative Disease

2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 1401-1411
Author(s):  
Alessandra Dodich ◽  
Chiara Crespi ◽  
Gaia C. Santi ◽  
Simona Luzzi ◽  
Valentina Ranaldi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Emotion Recognition ◽  
Frontotemporal Dementia ◽  
Primary Progressive Aphasia ◽  
Clinical Settings ◽  
Clinical Criteria ◽  
Cognitive Markers ◽  
Social Tasks ◽  
Healthy Control ◽  
One Way Anova

Background: Severe socio-emotional impairments characterize the behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). However, literature reports social cognition disorders in other dementias. Objective: In this study, we investigated the accuracy of social cognition performances in the early and differential diagnosis of bvFTD. Methods: We included 131 subjects: 32 bvFTD, 26 Alzheimer’s disease (AD), 16 primary progressive aphasia (PPA), 17 corticobasal syndrome (CBS), and 40 healthy control (HC). Each subject completed the Ekman 60 faces (Ek-60F) test assessing basic emotion recognition and the Story-based Empathy Task (SET) assessing attribution of intentions/emotions. A combined social measure (i.e., Emotion Recognition and Attribution (ERA) index) was calculated. One-way ANOVA has been used to compare performances among groups, while receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve tested measures ability to distinguish subjects with and without bvFTD. Results: Ek-60F and ERA index scores were significantly lower in bvFTD versus HC, AD, and PPA groups. ROC analyses significantly distinguished bvFTD from HC (AUC 0.82–0.92), with the Ek-60F test showing the highest performance, followed by the ERA index. These two social measures showed the best accuracy in detecting bvFTD from AD (AUC 0.78–0.74) and PPA (AUC 0.80–0.76). Investigated measures failed in detecting bvFTD from CBS. Conclusion: Accuracy analyses support the advantage of using social cognition tests for bvFTD diagnosis. Short social battery may reduce uncertainties and improve disease identification in clinical settings. We recommend a revision of current clinical criteria considering neuropsychological deficits in emotion recognition and processing tasks as key cognitive markers of this neurodegenerative syndrome.

scholarly journals Neuronal correlates of affective theory of mind in schizophrenia out-patients: evidence for a baseline deficit

2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (10) ◽  
pp. 1607-1617 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Mier ◽  
C. Sauer ◽  
S. Lis ◽  
C. Esslinger ◽  
J. Wilhelm ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Emotion Recognition ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Functional Brain Imaging ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Imaging Data ◽  
Schizophrenia Group

BackgroundSchizophrenia out-patients have deficits in affective theory of mind (ToM) but also on more basal levels of social cognition, such as the processing of neutral and emotional expressions. These deficits are associated with changes in brain activation in the amygdala and the superior temporal sulcus (STS). However, until now there have been no studies that examined these different levels of social cognition and their neurobiological underpinnings in patients within one design.MethodSixteen medicated schizophrenia out-patients and 16 matched healthy controls were studied with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a social cognition task that allows the investigation of affective ToM (aToM), emotion recognition and the processing of neutral facial expressions.ResultsPatients showed a deficit in emotion recognition and a more prominent deficit in aToM. The performance in aToM and in emotion recognition was correlated in the control group but not in the schizophrenia group. Region-of-interest analysis of functional brain imaging data revealed no difference between groups during aToM, but a hyperactivation in the schizophrenia group in the left amygdala and right STS during emotion recognition and the processing of neutral facial expressions.ConclusionsThe results indicate that schizophrenia out-patients have deficits at several levels of social cognition and provide the first evidence that deficits on higher-order social cognitive processes in schizophrenia may be traced back to an aberrant processing of faces per se.

Meta-analysis of social cognition in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): comparison with healthy controls and autistic spectrum disorder

2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 699-716 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Bora ◽  
C. Pantelis
Keyword(s):  
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Social Cognition ◽  
Emotion Recognition ◽  
Cognitive Deficits ◽  
Attention Deficit ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Social Cognitive Deficits

BackgroundImpairment in social cognition is an established finding in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Emerging evidence suggests that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) might be also associated with deficits in theory of mind (ToM) and emotion recognition. However, there are inconsistent findings, and it has been debatable whether such deficits persist beyond childhood and how similar social cognitive deficits are in ADHD v. ASD.MethodWe conducted a meta-analysis of social cognition, including emotion recognition and ToM, studies in ADHD compared with healthy controls and ASD. The current meta-analysis involved 44 studies comparing ADHD (n = 1999) with healthy controls (n = 1725) and 17 studies comparing ADHD (n = 772) with ASD (n = 710).ResultsFacial and vocal emotion recognition (d = 0.40–0.44) and ToM (d = 0.43) abilities were significantly impaired in ADHD. The most robust facial emotion recognition deficits were evident in anger and fear. Social cognitive deficits were either very subtle (emotion recognition) or non-significant (ToM) in adults with ADHD. Deficits in social cognition, especially ToM, were significantly more pronounced in ASD compared with ADHD. General cognitive impairment has contributed to social cognitive deficits in ADHD.ConclusionsPerformance of individuals with ADHD on social cognition lies intermediate between ASD and healthy controls. However, developmental trajectories of social cognition probably differ between ADHD and ASD as social cognitive deficits in ADHD might be improving with age in most individuals. There is a need for studies investigating a potential subtype of ADHD with persistent social cognitive deficits and exploring longitudinal changes in social cognition during development.

scholarly journals Social cognition in first-degree relatives of bipolar disorder: Theory of Mind and nonverbal sensitivity

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. e0246908
Author(s):  
Usue Espinós ◽  
Enrique G. Fernández-Abascal ◽  
Mercedes Ovejero ◽  
Guillermo Lahera
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Disorder ◽  
Social Cognition ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Type I ◽  
Nonverbal Sensitivity ◽  
First Degree Relatives ◽  
Significant Impairment ◽  
Bipolar Patients

Social cognition might be impaired in first degree relatives (FDR) of BD but existing research shows controversial results about social cognitive impairments in this population. The aim of this study was to assess Theory of Mind (ToM) and nonverbal sensitivity in FDR of BD and compare the results with those of two groups of persons with remitted bipolar disorder (BD), type I and II, and a control group. Social cognitive ability was examined in first degree relatives of BD, with a biological parent, offspring or sibling diagnosed with the disorder. For this study, 37 FDRs of bipolar patients, 37 BD I, 40 BD II and 40 control participants were recruited. Social cognition was explored by means of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test and the MiniPONS. Results showed a significant impairment in FDR of BD in the ToM task, but not in nonverbal sensitivity. Performance of FDRs in social cognition is better than that of BDs (either type I or type II) but worse when compared with that of healthy individuals without a family history of psychiatric disorders. Nevertheless, no differences were found between BD I and BD II groups. Males and older participants showed a worse performance in all groups. Group family therapy with FDRs of BD might include training in the recognition of nonverbal cues, which might increase the understanding of their familiars with BD, in order to modify communication abilities.

scholarly journals Social cognition impairments in long-term opiate users in treatment

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 254-263
Author(s):  
Gill Terrett ◽  
Kimberly Mercuri ◽  
Elizabeth Pizarro-Campagna ◽  
Laila Hugrass ◽  
H Valerie Curran ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Cognitive Functioning ◽  
Emotion Recognition ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Facial Emotion Recognition ◽  
Facial Emotion ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Facial Mimicry

Background: Long-term opiate users experience pervasive social difficulties, but there has been surprisingly limited research focused on social-cognitive functioning in this population. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate whether three important aspects of social cognition (facial emotion recognition, theory of mind (ToM) and rapid facial mimicry) differ between long-term opiate users and healthy controls. Methods: The participants were 25 long-term opiate users who were enrolled in opiate substitution programmes, and 25 healthy controls. Facial emotion recognition accuracy was indexed by responses to 60 photographs of faces depicting the six basic emotions (happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise and disgust). ToM was assessed using the Reading the Mind in the Eyes task, which requires participants to infer mental states of others from partial facial cues. Rapid facial mimicry was assessed by recording activity in the zygomaticus major and corrugator supercilii muscle regions while participants passively viewed images of happy and angry facial expressions. Results: Relative to the control group, the opiate user group exhibited deficits in both facial emotion recognition and ToM. Moreover, only control participants exhibited typical rapid facial mimicry responses to happy facial expressions. Conclusions: These data indicate that long-term opiate users exhibit abnormalities in three distinct areas of social-cognitive processing, pointing to the need for additional work to establish how social-cognitive functioning relates to functional outcomes in this group. Such work may ultimately inform the development of interventions aimed at improving treatment outcomes for long-term opiate users.

scholarly journals MENTALIZING IN FRONTOTEMPORAL DEMENTIA AND PROGRESSIVE SUPRANUCLEAR PALSY

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo de Souza ◽  
Maxime Bertoux ◽  
Luciano Mariano ◽  
Elisa Resende ◽  
Antônio Lúcio Teixeira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Recognition ◽  
Progressive Supranuclear Palsy ◽  
Frontotemporal Dementia ◽  
Cerebral Atrophy ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Limbic Structures ◽  
Temporal Lobes ◽  
Medial Cortex ◽  
Critical Regions

Background: Mentalizing and emotion recognition are impaired in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). It is not clear whether these abilities are disturbed in progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Objective: To investigate social cognition (SC) between bvFTD and PSP. The neural basis of SC in PSP and bvFTD groups were also investigated by neuroimaging. Methods: Data from the notification sheet were collected and patients were classified according to current clinical and pathological criteria. Results: Groups did not differ on age, schooling and sex. Compared to controls, bvFTD and PSP patients had reduced scores in all tests of SC. bvFTD and PSP did not differ on measures of SC. PSP and bvFTD had cerebral atrophy in critical regions for SC. The cortical correlates of emotion recognition overlapped in bvFTD and PSP, correlating with frontal medial cortex, insula and limbic structures. PSP and bvFTD patients also displayed similar patterns of brain correlations (anterior temporal lobes) for social norms. The neural correlates of mentalizing were associated with frontal and temporal poles bilaterally, in both bvFTD and PSP. Conclusion:PSP patients exhibit impairment in mentalizing. PSP and bvFTD share clinical, cognitive and neuroimaging features.

scholarly journals Cultural variation in young children’s social motivation for peer collaboration and its relation to the ontogeny of Theory of Mind

PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. e0242071
Author(s):  
Roman Stengelin ◽  
Robert Hepach ◽  
Daniel B. M. Haun
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Sampling Bias ◽  
Social Motivation ◽  
Early Ontogeny ◽  
Peer Collaboration ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Cultural Variation

Children seek and like to engage in collaborative activities with their peers. This social motivation is hypothesized to facilitate their emerging social-cognitive skills and vice versa. Current evidence on the ontogeny of social motivation and its’ links to social cognition, however, is subject to a sampling bias toward participants from urban Western populations. Here, we show both cross-cultural variation and homogeneity in three- to eight-year-old children’s expressed positive emotions during and explicit preferences for peer collaboration across three diverse populations (urban German, rural Hai||om/Namibia, rural Ovambo/Namibia; n = 240). Children expressed more positive emotions during collaboration as compared to individual activity, but the extent varied across populations. Children’s preferences for collaboration differed markedly between populations and across ages: While German children across all ages sought collaboration, Hai||om children preferred to act individually throughout childhood. Ovambo children preferred individual play increasingly with age. Across populations, positive emotions expressed selectively during collaboration, predicted children’s social-cognitive skills. These findings provide evidence that culture shapes young children’s social motivation for dyadic peer collaboration. At the same time, the positive relation of social motivation and social cognition in early ontogeny appears cross-culturally constant.

Recognition of Positive Vocalizations Is Impaired in Behavioral-Variant Frontotemporal Dementia

2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 483-487 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharpley Hsieh ◽  
John R Hodges ◽  
Olivier Piguet
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Recognition ◽  
Frontotemporal Dementia ◽  
Positive Emotion ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia ◽  
Growing Body

AbstractRecognition of negative emotions is impaired in behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). Less is known about the identification of positive emotions. One limitation likely arises from the stimulus sets used in previous studies. The widely used Ekman 60 Faces Test, for example, consists of four negative emotions (anger, fear, disgust and sadness) but only one positive emotion (happiness). Here, patients with bvFTD (n = 9), AD (n = 9), and controls (n = 15) recognized a range of experimentally-validated positive and negative non-verbal vocalizations (e.g., cheers for triumph; retching for disgust) that have recently become available. The bvFTD group was impaired in the recognition of both positive and negative vocalizations. In contrast, performance in the AD cohort was comparable to that of controls. Findings in the bvFTD group point to a global emotion recognition deficit in this syndrome. These results are consistent with a growing body of research showing that deficits also extend to positive emotions. (JINS, 2013, 19, 1–5)

scholarly journals Association of visual motor processing and social cognition in schizophrenia

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pin-Yen Lu ◽  
Yu-Lien Huang ◽  
Pai-Chuan Huang ◽  
Yi-Chia Liu ◽  
Shyh-Yuh Wei ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Emotion Recognition ◽  
Cognitive Deficits ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Sensorimotor Function ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Motor Processing ◽  
Visual Motor ◽  
Social Cognitive Deficits ◽  
Visual Motor Processing

AbstractPatients with schizophrenia have difficulties in social cognitive domains including emotion recognition and mentalization, and in sensorimotor processing and learning. The relationship between social cognitive deficits and sensorimotor function in patients with schizophrenia remains largely unexplored. With the hypothesis that impaired visual motor processing may decelerate information processing and subsequently affects various domains of social cognition, we examined the association of nonverbal emotion recognition, mentalization, and visual motor processing in schizophrenia. The study examined mentalization using the verbal subset of the Chinese version of Theory of Mind (CToM) Task, an equivalent task of the Faux Pas Test; emotion recognition using the Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy 2-Taiwan version (DANVA-2-TW), and visual motor processing using a joystick tracking task controlled for basic motor function in 34 individuals with chronic schizophrenia in the community and 42 healthy controls. Patients with schizophrenia had significantly worse performance than healthy controls in social cognition, including facial, prosodic emotion recognition, and mentalization. Visual motor processing was also significantly worse in patients with schizophrenia. Only in patients with schizophrenia, both emotion recognition (mainly in prosodic modality, happy, and sad emotions) and mentalization were positively associated with their learning capacity of visual motor processing. These findings suggest a prospective role of sensorimotor function in their social cognitive deficits. Despite that the underlying neural mechanism needs further research, our findings may provide a new direction for restoration of social cognitive function in schizophrenia by enhancing visual motor processing ability.

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