Theory of mind and pragmatic abilities in dementia.

Objective: "Theory of Mind" (ToM) is the capacity to attribute mental states to oneself and to others and to interpret behavior in terms of mental states. Deficits in both ToM and pragmatic abilities have been described in patients with neurologic disorders, such as frontal lobe lesions and right hemisphere strokes, but have not been assessed in demented patients.

Methods: This study examined ToM and pragmatic abilities in a consecutive series of 34 patients with probable Alzheimer disease (AD) using a second-order false belief story, 11 short stories assessing understanding of social situations, and a test of pragmatic abilities assessing both indirect requests and-conversational implications.

Impairments of social cognition and decision making in Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: To investigate the nature of deficits in social cognition and real-life decision making in a group of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Design: A comprehensive neuropsychological and psychiatric assessment, including the Moral Judgment Interview and the Bechara's Card Test, was carried out in 25 patients with AD and 20 age-comparable normal controls.

Setting: Outpatient clinic.

Neuropsychological correlates of apathy and depression in patients with dementia.

Objective: To investigate the association between apathy and depression, and specific cognitive deficits in AD.

Background: Apathy and depression are frequent behavioral disorders in patients with AD. However, the neuropsychological correlates of these disorders have rarely been examined.