Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T02:31:58.078Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Assessment of social cognition in patients with multiple sclerosis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2010

JULIE OUELLET ,
PETER B. SCHERZER ,
ISABELLE ROULEAU ,
PHILIPPE MÉTRAS ,
CAROLINE BERTRAND-GAUVIN ,
NADÉRA DJERROUD ,
ÉMILIE BOISSEAU  and
PIERRE DUQUETTE
JULIE OUELLET
Affiliation:
Institut de Réadaptation Gingras-Lindsay de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
PETER B. SCHERZER*
Affiliation:
Institut des Sciences Cognitives, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Canada Département de psychologie, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada
ISABELLE ROULEAU
Affiliation:
Institut des Sciences Cognitives, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Canada Département de psychologie, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada Hôpital Notre-Dame du CHUM, Montréal, Canada
PHILIPPE MÉTRAS
Affiliation:
Département de psychologie, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada
CAROLINE BERTRAND-GAUVIN
Affiliation:
Institut des Sciences Cognitives, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Canada Département de psychologie, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada
NADÉRA DJERROUD
Affiliation:
Institut des Sciences Cognitives, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Canada Département de psychologie, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada
ÉMILIE BOISSEAU
Affiliation:
Institut des Sciences Cognitives, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Canada
PIERRE DUQUETTE
Affiliation:
Hôpital Notre-Dame du CHUM, Montréal, Canada
*
*Correspondence and reprint requests to: Peter Scherzer, PhD, Département de psychologie, Université du Québec à Montréal, Case postale 8888, Succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, (Québec), Canada H3C 3P8. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We examined the capacity of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) to attribute mental states to others and to identify cognitive abilities that subserve theory of mind (ToM). In this article, we report findings on 41 out-patients with diagnosed MS who underwent detailed neuropsychological and social-cognitive assessment. They were subdivided into a cognitively intact (n=15) and cognitively impaired (n=26) group according to their neuropsychological test results. Their results were compared with those of 20 age- and education-matched controls. MS patients with cognitive impairments were found to have more difficulties attributing mental states to others than did cognitively intact MS patients and normal controls on two ToM measures; short stories (Happé, Winner, & Brownell, 1998) and video clips (Ouellet, Bédirian, Charbonneau, & Scherzer, 2009). When attention, memory, and working memory were controlled, performance on the WAIS-III Picture Arrangement task accounted for 17.3% of the variance in performance on the video clips task. Performance on a WAIS-III index composed of Similarities and Comprehension subtests, accounted for 7.0% of the variance in performance on the short stories task. These results provide some preliminary information on the effect of MS-related cognitive deficits on the ability to attribute mental states to others. (JINS, 2010, 16, 287–296.)

Keywords

Multiple sclerosisCognitive dysfunctionTheory of mindShort storiesNaturalistic taskLiteral interpretation
Type
Research Articles
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , March 2010 , pp. 287 - 296
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Achiron, A., & Barak, Y. (2006). Cognitive changes in early MS: A call for common framework. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 245, 47–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amato, M.P., Ponziani, G., Siracusa, G., & Sorbi, S. (2001). Cognitive dysfunction in early-onset multiple sclerosis: A reappraisal after 10 years. Archives of Neurology, 58, 1602–1606.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Amato, P.M., Zipoli, V., & Portaccio, E. (2006). Multiple sclerosis-related cognitive changes: A review of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 245, 41–46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Apperly, I.A., Samson, D., Chiavarino, C., & Humphreys, G.W. (2004). Frontal and temporo-parietal lobe contributions to theory of mind: Neuropsychological evidence from a false-belief task with reduced language and executive demands. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 16, 1773–1784.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Arnett, P.A., Rao, S.M., Bernardin, L., Grafman, J., Yetkin, E.Z., & Lobeck, L. (1994). Relationship between frontal lobe lesions and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test performance in patients with multiple sclerosis. Neurology, 44, 420–425.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baddeley, A.D. (1968). A 3 minute reasoning test based on grammatical transformation. Psychonomic Sciences, 10, 341–342.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baron-Cohen, S., Leslie, A.M., & Frith, U. (1985). Does the autistic child have a ‘theory of mind’? Cognition, 21, 37–46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baron-Cohen, S., Joliffe, T., Mortimore, C., & Robertson, M. (1997). Another advanced test of theory of mind: Evidence from very high functioning adults with autism or Asperger Syndrome. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38, 813–822.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beatty, W.W., Goodkin, E.D., Beatty, A.P., & Monson, N. (1989). Frontal lobe dysfunction and memory impairment in patients with chronic progressive multiple sclerosis. Brain and Cognition, 11, 73–86.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Benito-Leon, J., Morales, J.M., & Rivera-Navarro, J. (2002). Health-related quality of life and its relationship to cognitive and emotional functioning in multiple sclerosis patients. European Journal of Neurology, 9, 497–502.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bobholz, J.A., & Rao, S.M. (2003). Cognitive dysfunction in multiple sclerosis: A review of recent developments. Current Opinion in Neurology, 16, 283–288.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brassington, J.C., & Marsh, N.V. (1998). Neuropsychological aspects of multiple sclerosis. Neuropsychology Review, 8, 43–77.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carlson, S.M., Moses, L.J., & Breton, C. (2002). How specific is the relation between executive function and theory of mind? Contributions of inhibitory control and working memory. Infant and Child Development, 11, 73–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carruthers, P., & Smith, P.K., (Eds.). (1996). Theories of theories of mind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cutajar, R., Ferriani, E., Scandellari, C., Sabattini, L., Trocino, C., Marchello, L.P., et al. . (2000). Cognitive function and quality of life in multiple sclerosis patients. Journal of Neurovirology, 6, 186–190.Google ScholarPubMed
Delis, D., Kaplan, E., & Kramer, J. (2001). Delis-Kaplan executive function scale. San Antonio: Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Denney, R.D., Lynch, G.S., & Parmenter, A.B. (2008). A 3-year longitudinal study of cognitive impairment in patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis: Speed matters. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 267, 129–136.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dziobek, I., Fleck, S., Kalbe, E., Rogers, K., Hassenstab, J., Brand, M., et al. . (2006). Introducing MASC: A movie for the assessment of social cognition. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorder, 36, 623–636.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Feinstein, A. (1999). The clinical neuropsychiatry of multiple sclerosis. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Fischer, J.S., Foley, F.W., Aikens, J.E., Ericson, G.D., Rao, S.M., & Shindell, S. (1994). What do we really know about cognitive dysfunction, affective disorders, and stress in multiple sclerosis? A practitioner’s guide. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, 8, 151–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foong, J., Rozewicz, L., Quaghebeur, G., Davie, C.A., Kartsounis, L.D., Thompson, A.J., et al. . (1997). Executive function in multiple sclerosis. The role of frontal lobe pathology. Brain, 120, 15–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gilchrist, A.C., & Creed, F.H. (1994). Depression, cognitive impairment and social stress in multiple sclerosis. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 38, 193–201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Golan, O., Baron-Cohen, S., Hill, J.J., & Golan, Y. (2006). The “Reading the Mind in Films” Task: A study of complex emotion recognition in adults with and without autism spectrum conditions. Society of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37, 1096–1106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Happé, F., Brownell, H., & Winner, E. (1999). Acquired “theory of mind” impairments following stroke. Cognition, 70, 211–240.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Happé, F.G.E., Malhi, G.S., & Checkley, S. (2001). Acquired mind-blindness following frontal lobe surgery? A single case study of impaired ‘theory of mind’ in a patient treated with stereotactic anterior capsulotomy. Neuropsychologia, 39, 83–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Happé, F.G.E., Winner, E., & Brownell, H. (1998). The getting of wisdom: Theory of mind in old age. Developmental Psychology, 34, 358–362.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heavey, L., Phillips, W., Baron-Cohen, S., & Rutter, M. (2000). The Awkward Moments Test: A naturalistic measure of social understanding in autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorder, 30, 225–236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henry, J.D., Phillips, L.H., Beatty, W.W., McDonald, S., Longley, W.A., Joscelyne, A., et al. . (2009). Evidence for deficits in facial affect recognition and theory of mind in multiple sclerosis. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 15, 277–285.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huijbregts, S.C., Kalkers, N.F., de Sonneville, L.M., de Groot, V., & Polman, C.H. (2006). Cognitive impairment and decline in different MS subtypes. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 245, 187–194.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kesselring, J., & Klement, U. (2001). Cognitive and affective disturbances in multiple sclerosis. Journal of Neurology, 248, 180–183.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kurtzke, J.F. (1983). Rating neurological impairment in multiple sclerosis: An expanded disability status scale (EDSS). Neurology, 33, 1444–1452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leslie, A.M. (1987). Pretence and representation in infancy: The origins of theory of mind. Psychological Review, 94, 84–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lezak, M.D., Howieson, D.B., & Loring, D.W. (2004). Neuropsychological assessment (4th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lieberman, A., & Benson, D.F. (1977). Control of emotional expression in pseudobulbar palsy. A personal experience. Archives of Neurology, 34, 717–719.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MacPherson, S.E., Phillips, L.H., & Della Sala, S.D. (2002). Age, executive function and social decision making: A dorsolateral prefrontal theory of cognitive aging. Psychology and Aging, 17, 598–609.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maurer, D., O’Craven, K.M., Le Grand, R., Mondloch, C.J., Springer, M.V., Lewis, T.L., et al. . (2006). Neural correlates of processing facial identity based on features versus their spacing. Neuropsychologia, 145, 1438–1451.Google Scholar
Maylor, E.A., Moulson, J.M., Muncar, A.M., & Taylor, L.A. (2002). Does performance on theory of mind tasks decline in old age? British Journal of Psychology, 93, 465–485.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McDonald, W.I., Compston, A., Edan, G., Goodkin, D., Hartung, H.-P., Lublin, F.D., et al. . (2001). Recommended diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis: Guidelines from the International Panel on the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Annals of Neurology, 50, 121–127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Montreuil, M., & Lyon-Caen, O. (1993). Troubles thymiques et relations entre alexithymie et dysfonctionnement interhémisphérique dans la sclérose en plaques. Revue de Neuropsychologie, 3, 287–302.Google Scholar
Ouellet, J., Bédirian, V., Charbonneau, S., & Scherzer, P.B. (2002). La cognition sociale chez les personnes âgées: proposition d’une mesure écologique. Trois-Rivières: Poster presented at the 25th Annual Meeting of the Société québécoise pour la recherche en psychologie (SQRP).Google Scholar
Pelosi, L., Geesken, J.M., Holly, M., Hayward, M., & Blumhardt, L.D. (1997). Working memory impairment in early multiple sclerosis: Evidence from an event-related potential study of patients with clinically isolated myelopathy. Brain, 120, 2039–2058.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Potagas, C., Giogkaraki, E., Koutsis, G., Mandellos, D., Tsirempolou, E., Sfagos, C., et al. . (2008). Cognitive impairment in different MS subtypes and clinically isolated syndromes. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 267, 100–106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rao, S.M. (1996). White matter disease and dementia. Brain and Cognition, 31, 250–268.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rao, S.M., Grafman, J., DiGiulio, D., Mittenberg, W., Bernardin, L., Leo, G.J., et al. . (1993). Memory dysfunction in multiple sclerosis: Its relation to working memory, semantic encoding, and implicit learning. Neuropsychology, 7, 364–374.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rao, S.M., Leo, G.J., Bernardin, L., & Unverzagt, F. (1991a). Cognitive dysfunction in multiple sclerosis. I. Frequency, patterns, and prediction. Neurology, 41, 685–691.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rao, S.M., Leo, J., Ellington, L., Naurtz, T., Bernardin, I., & Unverzagt, F. (1991b). Cognitive dysfunction in multiple sclerosis II: Impact on employment and social functioning. Neurology, 41, 692–696.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roeyers, H., Buysse, A., Ponnet, K., & Pichal, B. (2001). Advancing advanced mind-reading tests: Empathic accuracy in adults with a pervasive developmental disorder. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 42, 271–278.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rowe, A.D., Bullock, P.R., Polkey, C.E., & Morris, R.G. (2001). Theory of mind impairments and their relationship to executive functioning following frontal lobe excisions. Brain, 24, 600–616.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruby, M., & Decety, J. (2003). What you believe versus what you think they believe: A neuroimaging study of conceptual perspective-taking. European Journal of Neuroscience, 17, 2475–2480.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sartori, E., & Edan, G. (2006). Assessment of cognitive dysfunction in multiple sclerosis. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 245, 169–175.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saxe, R., & Kanwisher, N. (2003). People thinking about thinking people: The role of the temporo-parietal junction in “theory of mind”. Neuroimage, 19, 1835–1842.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saxe, R., & Powell, L.J. (2006). It’s the thought that counts: Specific brain regions for one component of theory of mind. Psychological Science, 17, 692–699.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saxe, R., & Wexler, A. (2005). Making sense of another mind: The role of the right temporo-parietal junction. Neuropsychologia, 43, 1391–1399.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schiffer, R.B. (1990). Affective disturbance in multiple sclerosis: Disturbances of affect. In Rao, S.M. (Ed.), Neurobehavioral aspects of multiple sclerosis (pp. 186–195). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Schiffer, R.B., & Caine, E.D. (1991). The interaction between depressive affective disorder and neuropsychological test performance in multiple sclerosis patients. Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 3, 28–32.Google ScholarPubMed
Siegert, R.J., & Abernethy, D.A. (2005). Depression in multiple sclerosis: A review. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 76, 469–475.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sommer, M., Döhnel, K., Sodian, B., Meinhardt, J., Thoermer, J.C., & Hajak, G. (2007). Neural correlates of true and false belief reasoning. Neuroimage, 35, 1378–1384.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stone, V.E., Baron-Cohen, S., & Knight, R.T. (1998). Frontal lobe contribution to theory of mind. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 10, 640–656.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stuss, D.T., Gallup, G.G., & Alexander, M.P. (2001). The frontal lobes are necessary for ‘theory of mind’. Brain, 124, 279–286.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sullivan, S., & Ruffman, T. (2004). Social understanding: How does it fare with advancing years? British Journal of Psychology, 95, 1–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed