TY - JOUR
T1 - Utility of an abbreviated version of the executive and social cognition battery in the detection of executive deficits in early behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia patients
AU - Gleichgerrcht, Ezequiel
AU - Torralva, Teresa
AU - Roca, María
AU - Manes, Facundo
PY - 2010/7
Y1 - 2010/7
N2 - The detection of executive deficits in early behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is crucial, as impairments in the executive domain constitute an important diagnostic feature of the newly proposed diagnostic criteria for bvFTD. Our group has recently demonstrated that classical executive tests fail to detect the executive deficits of a subgroup of early bvFTD patients. When administered an executive and social cognition battery (ESCB) that includes tasks that mimic everyday scenarios (e.g., affective decision-making, planning and organization, theory of mind), however, the performance of those bvFTD patients differed significantly from that of controls. One limitation of the ESCB is its lengthy nature (approximately 90 min). For this reason, the present study analyzes the usefulness of alternative shorter versions of this battery. We propose one particular two-task combination that demands approximately 30 min for its administration and scoring, and which presents similar discriminatory accuracy as that of the complete ESCB, while maintaining its significantly superior capacity to detect subtle executive deficits in bvFTD patients relative to classical executive tests. We suggest that, in clinical settings where tools, time, or human resources are scarce, this abbreviated ESCB may be useful in the detection of subtle yet impairing executive impairments of patients with bvFTD.
AB - The detection of executive deficits in early behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is crucial, as impairments in the executive domain constitute an important diagnostic feature of the newly proposed diagnostic criteria for bvFTD. Our group has recently demonstrated that classical executive tests fail to detect the executive deficits of a subgroup of early bvFTD patients. When administered an executive and social cognition battery (ESCB) that includes tasks that mimic everyday scenarios (e.g., affective decision-making, planning and organization, theory of mind), however, the performance of those bvFTD patients differed significantly from that of controls. One limitation of the ESCB is its lengthy nature (approximately 90 min). For this reason, the present study analyzes the usefulness of alternative shorter versions of this battery. We propose one particular two-task combination that demands approximately 30 min for its administration and scoring, and which presents similar discriminatory accuracy as that of the complete ESCB, while maintaining its significantly superior capacity to detect subtle executive deficits in bvFTD patients relative to classical executive tests. We suggest that, in clinical settings where tools, time, or human resources are scarce, this abbreviated ESCB may be useful in the detection of subtle yet impairing executive impairments of patients with bvFTD.
KW - Ecological assessment
KW - Frontal lobe
KW - Hotel Task
KW - Iowa Gambling Task
KW - Neuropsychological assessment
KW - Prefrontal cortex
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77956993471&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S1355617710000482
DO - 10.1017/S1355617710000482
M3 - Article
C2 - 20398437
AN - SCOPUS:77956993471
SN - 1355-6177
VL - 16
SP - 687
EP - 694
JO - Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
JF - Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
IS - 4
ER -