Theory of Mind in Patients with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
Date Issued
2011
Date
2011
Author(s)
Li, Yi-Hsing
Abstract
Purpose: The ability to infer another’s mental state (theory of mind, ToM) is a crucial aspect of social cognitive function. Recently, the neural substrate underlying ToM has been proposed to mainly involve the medial prefrontal and temporal lobes, as well as the adjacent structures. Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is a common type of focal epilepsy. Recent studies suggest that its neuropathological involvement includes several brain regions, rather than being circumscribed within the medial temporal structures. Some of these regions seem to overlap the neural network responsible for ToM, and thus provide us an opportunity to explore ToM function in patients with TLE. Studies on the issue of whether the patients evidence dysfunction in ToM, however, are scant and controversial. Consequently, the present study examines whether change in function is evident in patients with TLE. Methods: Thirty-one adult patients with TLE and 15 normal subjects (NCs) matched for demographic variables and IQ were recruited. All subjects received four ToM tasks measuring the basic and the advanced level of function, as well as tests measuring episodic memory, executive function, and verbal ability. Results: The patients were impaired in both the basic and the advanced level of ToM function even after minimizing the effects of other domains of cognitive function. Moreover, the deficits of ToM were more prominent in patients with right TLE than in those with left TLE. Conclusion: ToM dysfunction appears to be vulnerable to TLE, especially on the right side, and in consideration of the function might contribute to patients’ psychosocial adjustment. We thus suggest that this function measure be included in regular neuropsychological assessments of such patients.
Subjects
Theory of mind
Temporal lobe epilepsy
Right hemisphere
Type
thesis
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Loading...
Name
ntu-100-R96227207-1.pdf
Size
23.54 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum
(MD5):6ceade8b672a39e1f12905bbf92d4477