Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31079279›Full record

ArticleNeurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology2019

Analyzing theory of mind impairment in patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia.

Anna Rita Giovagnoli, Brian Bell, Alessandra Erbetta, Chiara Paterlini, Orso Bugiani

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Article in Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Expanding the cognitive spectrum of mitochondrial diseases.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Anna Rita GiovagnoliUnit of Neurology - Neuropathology, Department of Diagnostics and Applied Technology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy. annarita.giovagnoli@istituto-besta.it.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5719-0998
Brian BellCharles Matthews Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA.
Alessandra ErbettaUnit of Neuroradiology, Department of Diagnostics and Applied Technology, Fondazione IRCCS Neurological Institute Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy.
Chiara PaterliniUnit of Neurology - Neuropathology, Department of Diagnostics and Applied Technology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy.
Orso BugianiUnit of Neurology - Neuropathology, Department of Diagnostics and Applied Technology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveBehavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and theory of mind (ToM) have common neuroanatomical aspects. This pilot study analyzed the qualitative features of ToM relatively to the site of prefrontal atrophy, aiming to identify a neurobehavioral pattern of bvFTD.

methodFourteen bvFTD patients were compared with 14 healthy subjects with similar age, years of schooling, gender distribution, and social background. The faux pas task (FPT) measured the recognition and comprehension of faux pas (FP) and awareness of the factual details on 20 stories. Magnetic resonance assessed prefrontal atrophy.

resultsThe bvFTD patients were significantly impaired in FP recognition and comprehension and in attribution of non-existent FP. Qualitative analysis revealed five types of errors: misidentification of characters, misidentification of emotions, excessive cohesiveness to the factual context, delusional interpretations, and non-responses. The FPT recognition and comprehension scores were unrelated to story factual details or other neuropsychological performance. Conversely, the FP comprehension scores related to disease duration, the delusional errors to disease duration and prefrontal orbital atrophy, and the cohesiveness errors to age and prefrontal dorsolateral atrophy.

conclusionsIn bvFTD, ToM is characterized by misinterpretation of mental states and concrete thinking, which is related to disease severity and distinct areas of prefrontal atrophy. This neurobehavioral pattern may be a marker for bvFDT.

Indexed as

Social PerceptionAdultAgedAtrophyComprehensionFemaleFrontotemporal DementiaHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedPilot ProjectsPrefrontal CortexRecognition, PsychologySeverity of Illness IndexTheory of MindCognitive impairmentExecutive functionsOrbital cortexSocial cognitionTheory of mind

Identifiers

PMID31079279

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.