Home › Research › Digital health tools
Social inappropriateness in neurodegenerative disorders
Desmarais P, Lanctôt KL, Masellis M, Black SE, Herrmann N.. International psychogeriatrics, 2017-07-10
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Background New onset of mood and behavioral changes in middle-aged patients are frequently the first manifestations of an unrecognized neurocognitive disorder. Impairment of social cognition, the cognitive ability to process social information coming from others, such as emotions, to attribute mental states to others, and to respond appropriately to them, is often at the origin of behavioral manifestations in neurodegenerative disorders. Methods This paper reviews the current literature on social cognition impairment in neurocognitive disorders, particularly in prodromal stages of behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), Alzheimer's disease (AD), idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD), and Lewy body dementia (LBD). The concepts of social cognition will be reviewed, including its impairment and neural basis, its clinical assessment, and the different therapeutic interventions available clinically. Results Socially inappropriate behaviors, such as loss of empathy, inappropriateness of affect, and disinhibition are frequently reported in prodromal bvFTD and in prodromal AD. Lack of self-control, reduced perception of social cues, such as recognition of facial emotions and sarcastic speech, and impaired Theory of Mind all contribute to the neuropsychiatric symptoms and are secondary to neurodegeneration in specific brain regions. In contrasts to bvFTD and AD, deficits in social cognition in IPD occur later in the course of the disease and are often multifactorial in origin. Conclusions Through various manifestations, social inappropriateness is frequently the first clinical sign of a neurodegenerative process, especially in AD and bvFTD, years before noticeable impairment on classical neuropsychological assessment and brain atrophy on imaging.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Desmarais, P., Lanctôt, K. L., Masellis, M., Black, S. E., & Herrmann, N. (2018). Social inappropriateness in neurodegenerative disorders. International psychogeriatrics. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1041610217001260
Vancouver
Desmarais P, Lanctôt KL, Masellis M, Black SE, Herrmann N. Social inappropriateness in neurodegenerative disorders. International psychogeriatrics. 2018. doi:10.1017/s1041610217001260. PMID: 28689508.
BibTeX
@article{desmarais2018-28689508,
author = {Desmarais, P. and Lanctôt, K. L. and Masellis, M. and Black, S. E. and Herrmann, N.},
title = {{Social inappropriateness in neurodegenerative disorders}},
journal = {International psychogeriatrics},
year = {2018},
doi = {10.1017/s1041610217001260},
pmid = {28689508},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1017/s1041610217001260}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- Results Socially inappropriate behaviors, such as loss of empathy, inappropriateness of affect, and disinhibition are frequently reported in prodromal bvFTD and in prodromal AD.
Why it matters
This review describes how impaired social cognition contributes to inappropriate behaviors in early frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer's disease. It is about understanding symptoms and does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Digital health →
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 43/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 41 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 43 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (International psychogeriatrics) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | International Psychogeriatrics: journal h-index 161 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2018 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 105 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 10.5 citations a year over 10 year(s) since 2018 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 5.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 2 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 30 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of Toronto: institution h-index 1,923 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 28689508) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 41 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 41 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 43 out of 100. |
| Total | 43 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1017/s1041610217001260
- PubMed: 28689508
- Original source →
- Free full text: International Psychogeriatrics →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here. Showing 12 of 14.
Later studies that cite this one
2 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references.
Related studies in Digital health tools
Also tagged “bodies”
1,017 studies in the library carry the topic tag “bodies”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 1,017 tagged studies.