Department of Diagnostics and Technology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico C. Besta, Milano, Italy.
Epilepsy Behav. 2019 Nov;100(Pt B):106349. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2019.05.044. Epub 2019 Jul 30.
Impaired theory of mind (ToM) is a neurobehavioral phenotype of epilepsy. Given that the age transitions affect cognitive development and decline, it is important to refine ToM across the lifespan. This study evaluated ToM in healthy subjects, taking into account education, gender, and other functions, aiming to clarify its specificity and relationships to major demographic and cognitive domains.
A hundred and seventy subjects from ages 16 to 81 years (68 men) who received five to 17 years of schooling were evaluated using a Faux Pas Task (FPT) that is solved at the end of childhood and is highly sensitive to brain damage and tests for language, memory, praxis, visual perception, initiative, attention, shifting, and planning. Factor analysis, analysis of variance, and correlation and regression analyses were used to assess the data.
The analysis yielded six factors: Beliefs, Delusions, and Facts, which express the understanding of mental states and contextual details; Matching-Learning, Executive, and Working Memory. On this basis, six composite scores (CSs) were computed. Age and schooling showed significant effects on the Matching-Learning, Executive, and Working Memory CSs. The FPT raw scores and CSs were unrelated to age or schooling, while females showed better performance than males. The Beliefs CS and FPT scores were predicted by the Executive, Working Memory, Delusions, and Facts CSs and gender.
Theory of mind is a specific cognitive domain independent of age and formal education, but related to gender. Working memory, executive functions, and reality examination support some ToM processes. These findings may provide reference points against which impairment can be assessed. This article is part of the Special Issue "Epilepsy and social cognition across the lifespan".
受损的心理理论（Theory of Mind，ToM）是癫痫的一种神经行为表型。鉴于年龄变化会影响认知的发展和衰退，因此在整个生命周期中细化 ToM 非常重要。本研究评估了健康受试者的 ToM，同时考虑了教育、性别和其他功能，旨在澄清其特异性及其与主要人口统计学和认知领域的关系。
170 名年龄在 16 至 81 岁（68 名男性）的受试者接受了 5 至 17 年的学校教育，他们使用错误归因任务（Faux Pas Task，FPT）进行评估，该任务在儿童期结束时完成，对脑损伤高度敏感，并测试语言、记忆、动作、视觉感知、主动性、注意力、转换和计划。使用因子分析、方差分析以及相关和回归分析来评估数据。
分析产生了六个因素：信念、妄想和事实，表达了对心理状态和上下文细节的理解；匹配学习、执行和工作记忆。在此基础上，计算了六个综合得分（Composite Scores，CSs）。年龄和受教育程度对匹配学习、执行和工作记忆 CSs 有显著影响。FPT 原始分数和 CSs 与年龄或受教育程度无关，而女性的表现优于男性。信念 CS 和 FPT 分数可由执行、工作记忆、妄想和事实 CSs 和性别预测。
心理理论是一个独立于年龄和正规教育的特定认知领域，但与性别有关。工作记忆、执行功能和现实检验支持一些 ToM 过程。这些发现可能为评估损伤提供参考点。本文是“跨生命周期的癫痫和社会认知”特刊的一部分。
