Measuring social cognition and cognitive control in Mild Cognitive Impairment: comparison with cognitively healthy older adults (Published Abstract)

Abstract

Social cognition is the sum of the abilities that allow individuals to interact with each other. In fact, in order to perceive both the self and the other, a person has to represent their mental states and infer differences between them. All the processes needed for these representations are included under the umbrella concept of Theory of Mind (ToM). Cognitive control (Cc) is defined as self-initiated cognitive processing which is mainly dependent on the prefrontal brain region. It includes a series of higher-order cognitive functions, known as executive functions. Recent research on Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) tends to support that both ToM and Cc display some decrements in MCI patients, compared to healthy peers. However, the picture is not clear enough. The present study aimed at examining the level of ToM and Cc abilities as well as their relationships in older adults diagnosed with MCI. The sample comprised a total of 42 older adults (age: > 65 years), who were distributed in three groups: the MCI patients (group 1: n = 15), the cognitively healthy older adults having risk factors for cardiovascular disease development (group 2: n = 15), and the healthy controls (group 3: n = 12). The tasks administered were a) a ToM test measuring nonliteral language (sarcasm) understanding, b) a test examining emotion recognition, c) four Cc tasks measuring inhibition, switching and planning. Data processing is made using ANOVA’s to find quantitative differences, while multi-group path analysis is used to reveal qualitative differences in ToM and Cc abilities among the groups. The directed relationships among ToM and Cc are shown in path models confirmed. Hence, based on the findings, a profile of the ToM and Cc abilities in MCI will be created, that could be used as a tool for differentiating MCI patients from cognitively healthy peers.