<scp>Mini social cognition</scp> and <scp>emotional assessment</scp> : <scp>Diagnostic performance</scp> and <scp>neural correlates</scp> in behavioural‐variant <scp>frontotemporal dementia</scp>
We aimed at validating the Mini Social Cognition and Emotional Assessment (Mini-SEA) in a German cohort of mildly impaired behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) patients and healthy controls. The Mini-SEA comprises the Facial Emotion Recognition Test (FERT) and the Faux Pas Test (FPT) measuring Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities in social norm-related real-life stories. We examined the diagnostic performance of the Mini-SEA alongside other neuropsychological assessments and investigated its structural neural correlates. We included 32 bvFTD patients and 54 controls in logistic regression models with forward-stepwise selection containing demographics, standard neuropsychological battery (CERAD-NAB+) and the Mini-SEA scores to identify the most relevant variables. Demographic, neuropsychological and daily-life activity associations were explored. Voxel-based morphometry analysis was conducted in a subsample (14 bvFTD and 14 controls) on regions previously linked to emotion processing and ToM functions. The Mini-SEA yielded a very good performance, being in the best-fitting model with a high odds ratio alongside the executive-language and memory measures. Specifically, the FERT indicated the strongest effect in the group differentiation. Mini-SEA showed significant associations with executive-language tests and daily-life activities. In canonical emotion processing brain regions, we found associations of the Mini-SEA composite and the FERT with grey matter volumes in the left insula and lentiform nucleus of putamen. Within ToM regions, associations were found for the Mini-SEA composite and the FPT in cerebellar regions. The German Mini-SEA discriminates well between mildly impaired bvFTD patients and controls. We also demonstrated its significant value for neuropsychological assessment and neuro-behavioural associations in regions underlying emotion processing and ToM.
Authors
- Emrah Düzel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0139-5388)
- Carolin Miklitz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4485-1929)
- Annika Spottke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9854-2972)
- Gabor C. Petzold (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0145-8641)
- Stefan Teipel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3586-3194)
- Matthis Synofzik (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2280-7273)
- Klaus Scheffler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6316-8773)
- Sandra Roeske (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8262-4356)
- Luca Kleineidam (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-3309-6856)
- David Mengel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4133-7182)
- Michael Wagner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2589-6440)
- Klaus Fließbach (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0183-7510)
- Josef Priller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7596-0979)
- Stefan Hetzer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1773-1518)
- Ingo Frommann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7244-2014)
- Johannes Prudlo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7932-5929)
- Ingo Kilimann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3269-4452)
- Julian Hellmann‐Regen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0411-9204)
- Anja Schneider (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9540-8700)
- Wenzel Glanz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5865-4176)
- Melina Stark (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-3812-023X)
- Cem Doğdu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3074-5201)
- Falk Lüsebrink
- Neeraj Upadhyay (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5165-9727)
- Andreas Johnen
- Eike Jakob Spruth
- Louise Droste zu Senden
Institutions
- University Hospital Bonn (DE)
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DE)
- University Hospital Münster (DE)
- UK Dementia Research Institute (GB)
- University Hospital Magdeburg (DE)
- Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research (DE)
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin (DE)
- University College London (GB)
- University of Rostock (DE)
- Technical University of Munich (DE)
- Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin (DE)
- University of Tübingen (DE)
- Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg (DE)
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Neuropsychology
- Published
- 2025-06-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1111/jnp.70000
- Primary Topic
- Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen