Department of Neurology, Hôpital Maison Blanche, CHRU de Reims, Reims, France.
J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2011 Nov;17(6):1122-31. doi: 10.1017/S1355617711001147. Epub 2011 Oct 7.
Theory of Mind (ToM) is the ability to attribute independent mental states to self and others to explain and predict behavior. Impairment of ToM is well established in developmental pathologies. In neurological populations, investigation of ToM is still rare but data suggest that ToM impairment could contribute to behavioral and social disturbances. In addition to neurological signs, multiple sclerosis (MS) presents with disorders of cognition and behavior directly related to brain damage. The aim of this study was to assess ToM abilities and recognition of facial emotional expression in adults with MS. We compared 64 patients with relapsing MS and 30 matched healthy controls on three levels of ToM tasks, a facial emotion recognition task, and a neuropsychological assessment. MS patients performed significantly worse than controls in emotion recognition and all ToM tasks (p < .02). These deficits were not correlated with demographic variables or neuropsychological test performance. These findings underscore the importance of assessing ToM and facial recognition in MS, as dysfunction in these areas may impact upon social interaction and, thus, impair quality of life for both patients with MS and their families.
心理理论（Theory of Mind，ToM）是一种将独立的心理状态归因于自我和他人以解释和预测行为的能力。心理理论的损伤在发育病理学中得到了很好的证实。在神经学人群中，对心理理论的研究仍然很少，但数据表明心理理论损伤可能导致行为和社交障碍。除了神经学症状外，多发性硬化症（multiple sclerosis，MS）还表现出与大脑损伤直接相关的认知和行为障碍。本研究旨在评估多发性硬化症患者的心理理论能力和面部情绪识别能力。我们比较了 64 名复发性多发性硬化症患者和 30 名匹配的健康对照组在三个心理理论任务水平、面部情绪识别任务和神经心理学评估上的表现。多发性硬化症患者在情绪识别和所有心理理论任务上的表现均显著差于对照组（p <.02）。这些缺陷与人口统计学变量或神经心理学测试表现无关。这些发现强调了在多发性硬化症中评估心理理论和面部识别的重要性，因为这些领域的功能障碍可能会影响社交互动，从而损害多发性硬化症患者及其家属的生活质量。
