Neurocognitive Correlates of Empathy in Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal
Dementia 
   Lead Investigator:    Carissa Lane
   Institution      :    Wheaton College
   E-Mail           :    carissa.lane@my.wheaton.edu
   Proposal ID      :    1232


   Publications:


1  Lane C
   Utility of Empathy Informant-Report in FTD Differential Diagnosis
   2019   Abstract  International Neuropsychological Society Annual Conference , 

   SUBMITTED





   Proposal Description:
   While neuropsychological tests are sensitive to brain dysfunction, cognitive changes are often subtle early in dementia processes, particularly in frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). Loss of empathy is a core diagnostic feature of behavioral variant FTLD (bvFTLD) that is not a hallmark of other dementia pathologies and is often one of the initial presenting concerns in this disorder. Previous research has suggested that aspects of neurocognitive functioning, including verbal fluency and mental flexibility, contribute to empathy capacity (Rankin, Kramer, Miller, 2005 Eslinger, 1998).     The current study aims to:   (1) determine the degree of association between score on the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (a co-participant report of dispositional empathy) and eventual bvFTLD diagnosis,   (2) identify the cognitive measures with which the IRI is most highly correlated in patients with bvFTLD, and   (3) determine the degree to which cognitive functions as measured by neuropsychological tests contribute to empathy scores and thus which underlying cognitive networks may be implicated in empathy.