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Measurement of Fronto-limbic Activity Using an Emotional Oddball Task in Children with Familial High Risk for Schizophrenia
Published on: December 2, 2015
Probabilistic association learning in frontotemporal dementia and schizophrenia
Thomas W Weickert1, Felicity Leslie, Jacqueline A Rushby
1School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. t.weickert@unsw.edu.au
Summary
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) patients show significant deficits in probabilistic association learning, similar to those seen in schizophrenia (SC). This suggests fronto-striatal dysfunction may underlie cognitive impairments in FTD.
Area of Science:
- Neuropsychology
- Cognitive Neuroscience
Background:
- Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is associated with significant cognitive deficits.
- Schizophrenia (SC) shares neurobehavioral symptoms with FTD.
- Probabilistic association learning assesses fronto-striatal function, impaired in SC.
Purpose of the Study:
- Compare FTD, SC, and healthy controls on probabilistic association learning.
- Investigate FTD performance on this task for the first time.
- Determine similarity in learning deficits between FTD and SC.
Main Methods:
- Assessed 20 FTD patients, 24 SC patients, and 26 healthy controls.
- Utilized the probabilistic association learning weather prediction test.
- Compared FTD behavioral and language variants to healthy controls.
Main Results:
- FTD patients were impaired in probabilistic association learning compared to controls.
- FTD and SC groups showed no significant performance difference.
- FTD behavioral variants performed worse than healthy controls; language variants did not.
Conclusions:
- Provides first evidence of impaired probabilistic association learning in FTD, comparable to SC.
- Supports neuroimaging findings of fronto-striatal abnormalities in FTD.
- Suggests fronto-striatal dysfunction contributes to FTD cognitive deficits.
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