Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41646781›Full record

ArticlemedRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences2026

Multimodal semantic knowledge of emotion concepts in frontotemporal dementia.

Maxime Montembeault, Valentina Borghesani, Zachary A Miller, Maria Luisa Mandelli, Janhavi Pillai, Sheila Tran, Rian Bogley, Carly Millanski, Zoe Ezzes, Buddhika Ratnasiri and 10 more

Abstract readPreprint
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

20 authors.

Maxime MontembeaultMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9369-0498
Valentina BorghesaniMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-7909-8631
Zachary A MillerMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.
Maria Luisa MandelliMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-2518-2520
Janhavi PillaiMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.
Sheila TranMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.
Rian BogleyMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.
Carly MillanskiMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.
Zoe EzzesMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.
Buddhika RatnasiriMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-5044-015X
Eleanor R PalserMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.
Hulya UlugutMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.
Kyan YounesMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.
Michelle ShiotaDepartment of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
Dacher KeltnerDepartment of Psychology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-1650, USA.
Alan CowenDepartment of Psychology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-1650, USA.
Maya L HenryMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.
Katherine P RankinMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3611-0848
Virginia E SturmMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.
Maria Luisa Gorno-TempiniMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.

Funding

TDP-43 Loss-of-Function: Biology to BiomarkersP01AG019724 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI Jennifer Merrilees · 2002 to 2026
$67.2M
Progressive Aphasia Cognition Anatomy and ProgressionR01NS050915 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI MARIA LUISA GORNO TEMPINI · 2004 to 2026
$11.0M
An automated machine learning approach to language changes in Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia across Latino and English-speaking populationsR01AG075775 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI MARIA LUISA GORNO TEMPINI, Adolfo Martin Garcia · 2023 to 2026
$7.2M
Training program in the neurology of language and neurodegenerative aphasiasK24DC015544 · NIDCD · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI GORNO TEMPINI, MARIA LUISA · 2016 to 2025
$1.9M
Neuroimaging and genetics of the glymphatic system in Alzheimer's diseaseK23AG090733 · NIA · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI Kyan Younes · 2025 to 2026
$332k
NIA NIH HHS K23 AG090733NIA NIH HHS P01 AG019724NIA NIH HHS R01 AG075775NIDCD NIH HHS K24 DC015544NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS050915
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Recent work has delineated the semantic behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (sbvFTD; or right temporal variant of FTD, which is thought to preferentially impair semantic knowledge for emotional concepts. However, this proposed core feature has not yet been empirically validated, and no clinical tool exists to assess it. Establishing reliable markers is essential to clinically differentiate sbvFTD from behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD), which is critical given their overlapping behavioral symptoms but divergent underlying pathologies. Furthermore, contrasting sbvFTD with semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA) can advance our understanding of semantic memory, revealing how the right and left anterior temporal lobes (ATLs) support emotion- versus tool-related knowledge, highlighting the graded, lateralized organization of the semantic system. Methods: We studied 15 patients with sbvFTD, 15 with svPPA, 18 with bvFTD, and 37 healthy controls. A novel multimodal semantic battery, the Fear and Spider Test (FST), which assesses tool- and emotion-related concepts across word-based semantic associations, picture-based semantic associations, and sound-to-picture matching, was administered. Stimuli were matched on psycholinguistic and perceptual features, and emotional items were drawn from multicultural facial expressions validated with the Facial Action Coding System. Neural correlates of semantic performance were investigated using voxel-based morphometry. Results: As expected, patients with both sbvFTD and svPPA showed greater deficits in all semantic tasks compared to controls and bvFTD, and bilateral anterior temporal lobe (ATL) volumes were broadly associated with performance across all semantic tasks. Interactions between modality and categories were necessary for the emergence of differences between sbvFTD and svPPA and right and left ATL atrophy: performance on the Words-Tools condition was more impaired in svPPA and correlated with left ATL volume, while performance on the Pictures-Emotions condition was more impaired in sbvFTD and correlated with right ATL volume. Conclusion: The FST provides the first clear dissociation of sbvFTD from bvFTD, a distinction of critical clinical importance given their divergent pathological substrates and the absence of frontotemporal lobar degeneration specific biomarkers. The study also refines our understanding of semantic memory: contrasting sbvFTD with svPPA reveals complementary roles of the right and left ATLs in supporting emotion and tool knowledge, underscoring the graded, lateralized organization of the semantic system.

Indexed as

EmotionFrontotemporal dementiaNeuroimagingPrimary progressive aphasiaRight anterior temporal lobeSemanticsTools

Identifiers

PMID41646781
PMCPMC12870635

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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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.