Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition
Published on: February 1, 2012
The scale for emotional blunting in patients with frontotemporal dementia
Mario F Mendez1, Aaron McMurtray, Eliot Licht
1Department of Neurology, University of California at Los Angeles, USA. mmendez@UCLA.edu
Abstract:
Emotional blunting may underlie many of the behavioral features of frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The Scale for Emotional Blunting (SEB) was evaluated in 12 patients with early FTD, 12 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), and 12 normal controls. There were overall group differences on the SEB, and the FTD patients had greater emotional blunting than the AD patients. The SEB had good inter-rater reliability and a sensitivity of 92%, and a specificity of 83.5% for FTD. These findings suggest that the SEB may be a good instrument for the early detection and quantification of emotional blunting in patient with FTD.
Related Concept Videos
Negative and Cognitive Symptoms of Schizophrenia
Negative Symptoms
Negative symptoms of schizophrenia manifest as deficits in normal emotional and behavioral functioning, profoundly impacting daily life. Individuals with schizophrenia often display a flat affect, characterized by a near-total absence of emotional expression,...
Dementia l: Introduction
Dementia
The progression of dementia is generally gradual.

