Isolated theory of mind deficits and risk for frontotemporal dementia: a longitudinal pilot study.
J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry
; 84(7): 818-21, 2013 Jul.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-23117487
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
Recent data suggest that theory of mind (ToM) deficits represent an early symptom of the behavioural variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). However, longitudinal data on the natural history of subjects presenting with isolated ToM deficits are lacking. The aim of the study was to verify if isolated ToM deficits represent an at-risk state for prefrontal dysfunction and bvFTD.METHODS:
A population of healthy subjects (n=4150, age range 50-60 years) completed a clinical and neuropsychological evaluation including the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET), a widely used ToM task. From this group, we recruited a low-RMET group (n=83) including subjects with RMET scores lower than 2 SDs but an otherwise normal neuropsychological evaluation and a control group. All subjects underwent evaluation at baseline and after 2 years.RESULTS:
Subjects in the low-RMET group showed decline in prefrontal functions at follow-up. Moreover, at follow-up 12 subjects in the low-RMET group presented with findings suggestive of bvFTD. Neuropsychological performance was stable in the control group.CONCLUSIONS:
Our data suggest that isolated ToM deficits could represent an at-risk situation for the development of future prefrontal dysfunction and bvFTD. ToM evaluation should be included in neuropsychological protocols aimed to evaluate the early phases of dementia.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Frontotemporal Dementia
/
Theory of Mind
Type of study:
Etiology_studies
/
Guideline
/
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
En
Journal:
J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry
Year:
2013
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Italia