Prospects for the study of «social cognition» for the diagnosis of late-life neurodegenerative diseases. Part 2. Results of empirical studies

Abstract

The aim of the work: to analyze the prospects of the study of «social cognition» for solving diagnostic questions of geriatric psychiatry.

Materials and methods: By combining the key words «social cognition», «theory of mind» and «neurodegenerative diseases», «mild cognitive impairment», etc. in PubMed, ScienceDirect, PsycARTICLES databases was chosen and analyzed publications carriedout in the last decades in the format of reviews, meta-analyzes and longitudinal studies.

Results: Disturbance of the theory of mind (the concept used to evaluate «social cognition» see Part 1) is noted already with mild cognitive impairment. There are data on the better prognostic ability of the theory if mind tests compared to the available neurocognitive tests to assess the risks of developing frontal-temporal dementia. Its disturbances can occur before any signs of the neurodegenerative disease, estimated with the help of neurocognitive evaluation and neuroimaging study. Features of these disorders in different neurodegenerative diseases are shown.

Conclusion: The revealed sensitivity of the methods for assessing theory of mind, as well as the marked specificity of its disturbances in various neurodegenerative diseases, attests to the prospects of this research area for solving the problem of their early and differential diagnosis. Reviewed results require a comprehension from the point of view of the theoretical and methodological foundations of Russian psychiatry and clinical psychology.