Understanding Emotions in Frontotemporal Dementia
Author Information
Author(s): Toledo Anna, Paruchuri Nishita, Yokoyama Sae, Chen Enna, Hua Alice, Kramer Joel, Levenson Robert, Brown Casey
Primary Institution: Georgetown University
Hypothesis
Cognitive deficits in semantic knowledge and executive function relate to emotion perception in individuals with frontotemporal dementia.
Conclusion
Distinct neurocognitive abilities are linked with unique facets of emotion perception in individuals with frontotemporal dementia.
Supporting Evidence
- Semantic word knowledge was associated with emotion labeling but not emotion tracking.
- Executive function was associated with both emotion labeling and emotion tracking.
- Executive function was more strongly associated with emotion valence tracking than with emotion category labeling.
Takeaway
People with frontotemporal dementia may struggle to understand emotions, and different types of thinking skills affect how they recognize feelings.
Methodology
Participants completed cognitive tests and tasks to assess emotion perception.
Participant Demographics
110 participants including 33 behavioral variant, 23 non-fluent variant, 30 semantic variant, and 24 healthy controls.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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