Emotions processing in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia-correlation with executive functions

Abstract

The ability to decode emotions in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and fronto-temporal dementia (FTD) still requires research. The evidence demonstrates impairment of emotion recognition in behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD); data regarding emotions decoding in ALS are discrepant. Ability to decode emotions may depend on different variables, among them executive functions. The aim of this study is to compare patients with bvFTD, ALS and controls on emotions decoding ability. The second aim was to explore correlation between executive impairment and emotional decoding abilities. This study contained 26 patients with bvFTD, 42 with ALS and 31 control subjects with the same age, education and disease severity. Patients completed neuropsychological tests, and emotional recognition tasks. Patients with bvFTD decoded emotions worse than ALS and controls. More significant associations between the ability to decode emotions and executive dysfunction were found in ALS than in bvFTD patients and controls.