Social Cognition Dysfunctions in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Neuroanatomical Correlates and Clinical Implications

Table 1

Social cognition domains with the related assessment tools for clinical and research investigation of social cognition deficits in neurodegenerative diseases.

Social cognition domains	Assessment tools	Neurodegenerative diseases with impairment of social cognition domains	Neuroanatomic correlates of social cognition dysfunctions in neurodegenerative diseases
Theory of mind	False-belief tasks, Faux-Pas Test, RMET, Strange Stories Test, TASIT	bvFTD	Ventromedial, dorsolateral, and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, OFC, temporoparietal junction [42, 43, 115-119]
		nfvPPA	Temporal pole, insular cortex [113]
		svPPA	Left temporal lobe, medial frontal cortex [113]
		ALS	Dorsomedial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, supplementary motor areas [137]
		PD	Bilateral cingulate gyri, middle and inferior frontal gyri, fusiform and superior temporal gyri, bilateral parietal and bilateral occipital lobes [212, 213]
		PSP	Right inferior frontal gyrus, anterior medial frontal cortex [188]
		CBS	Right frontal-temporal-parietal cortices [214]
		AD	Superior temporal sulcus, posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus [42]
Empathy	EPT, EQ, IRI-EC, IRI-PT, MET	bvFTD, ALS, AD/MCI	Anterior cingulate, frontoinsular cortices [139, 115-119, 234]
Social perception	Ekman Faces test, TASIT, Comprehensive Affect Testing System, Florida Affect Battery	bvFTD	Anterior cingulate, orbitofrontal and medial prefrontal cortex, insula, striatum, and amygdala (SLN) [42, 43, 109, 115-119]
		nfvPPA	Posterior fusiform gyri, bilateral insular cortex, anterior temporal lobe [112]
		svPPA	Left temporal cortex, amygdala [112]
		ALS	Right inferior longitudinal fasciculus, inferior frontooccipital fasciculus [147, 148]
		PD	Orbitofrontal cortex, right and left superior frontal gyri, bilateral posterior cingulate gyri, somatosensory cortices, amigdala [206-209]
		PSP	Right inferior frontal gyrus [188]
		CBS	Paracentral gyrus, precuneus [163]
		AD	Temporoparietal regions [222-224]
Social behavior	AES, FBI, FrSBe scale, NPI, SDS, SIRS	bvFTD, ALS, PD, AD	Ventromedial and lateral prefrontal cortex, fronto-temporo-insular areas, anterior cingulate cortex [21, 22, 118, 129, 130, 222]

AD = Alzheimer’s disease; AES = apathy evaluation scale; ALS = amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; bvFTD = behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia; CBS = corticobasal syndrome; EQ = Empathy Quotient; FrSBe = Frontal Systems Behavior; FBI = Frontal Behavioral Inventory; IRI-EC = Interpersonal Reactivity Inventory-Empathic Concern; IRI-PT = Interpersonal Reactivity Inventory-Perspective-Taking; MCI = mild cognitive impairment; MET = Multifaceted Empathy Test; NPI = Neuropsychiatric Inventory; OFC = orbitofrontal cortex; PD = Parkinson’s disease; PSP = progressive supranuclear palsy; RMET = Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test; SDS = Socioemotional Dysfunction Scale; SIRS = Social Impairment Rating Scale; TASIT-S = The Awareness of Social Inference Test.