The Revised Self-Monitoring Scale detects early impairment of social cognition in genetic frontotemporal dementia within the GENFI cohort
Hannah Franklin, Lucy L. Russell, Georgia Peakman, Caroline Greaves, Martina Bocchetta, Jennifer Nicholas, Jackie M. Poos, Rhian S. Convery, David M. Cash, John van Swieten, Lize C. Jiskoot, Fermín Moreno, Raquel Sánchez‐Valle, Barbara Borroni, Robert Laforce, Mario Masellis, Maria Carmela Tartaglia, Caroline Graff, Daniela Galimberti, James B. Rowe, Elizabeth Finger, Matthis Synofzik, Rik Vandenberghe, Alexandre de Mendonça, Fabrizio Tagliavini, Isabel Santana, Simon Ducharme, Christopher Butler, Alexander Gerhard, Johannes Levin, Adrian Danek, Markus Otto, Sandro Sorbi, Isabelle Le Ber, Florence Pasquier, Jonathan D. Rohrer, on behalf of the Genetic FTD Initiative, GENFI, Sònia Afonso, Maria Rosário Almeida, Sarah Anderl‐Straub, Christin Andersson, Anna Antonell, Silvana Archetti, Andrea Arighi, Mircea Balasa, Myriam Barandiarán, Núria Bargalló, Robart Bartha, Benjamin Bender, Alberto Benussi, Maxime Bertoux, Anne Bertrand, Valentina Bessi, Sandra E. Black, Sergi Borrego‐Écija, José Brás, Alexis Brice, Rose Bruffaerts, Agnès Camuzat, Marta Cañada, Valentina Cantoni, Paola Caroppo, Miguel Castelo‐Branco, Olivier Colliot, Thomas Cope, Vincent Deramecourt, María de Arriba, Giuseppe Di Fede, Alina Díez, Diana Duro, Chiara Fenoglio, Camilla Ferrari, Catarina B. Ferreira, Nick C. Fox, Morris Freedman, Giorgio Fumagalli, Aurélie Funkiewiez, Alazne Gabilondo, Roberto Gasparotti, Serge Gauthier, Stefano Gazzina, Giorgio Giaccone, Ana Gorostidi, Caroline Greaves, Rita Guerreiro, Carolin Heller, Tobias Hoegen, Begoña Indakoetxea, Vesna Jelić, Hans‐Otto Karnath, Ron Keren, Grégory Kuchcinski, Tobias Langheinrich, Thibaud Lebouvier, Maria João Leitão, Albert Lladó, Gemma Lombardi, Sandra Loosli, Carolina Maruta, Simon Mead
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Although social cognitive dysfunction is a major feature of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), it has been poorly studied in familial forms. A key goal of studies is to detect early cognitive impairment using validated measures in large patient cohorts. METHODS: We used the Revised Self-Monitoring Scale (RSMS) as a measure of socioemotional sensitivity in 730 participants from the genetic FTD initiative (GENFI) observational study: 269 mutation-negative healthy controls, 193 C9orf72 expansion carriers, 193 GRN mutation carriers and 75 MAPT mutation carriers. All participants underwent the standardised GENFI clinical assessment including the 'CDR® plus NACC FTLD' scale and RSMS. The RSMS total score and its two subscores, socioemotional expressiveness (EX score) and modification of self-presentation (SP score) were measured. Volumetric T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging was available from 377 mutation carriers for voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis. RESULTS: The RSMS was decreased in symptomatic mutation carriers in all genetic groups but at a prodromal stage only in the C9orf72 (for the total score and both subscores) and GRN (for the modification of self-presentation subscore) groups. RSMS score correlated with disease severity in all groups. The VBM analysis implicated an overlapping network of regions including the orbitofrontal cortex, insula, temporal pole, medial temporal lobe and striatum. CONCLUSIONS: The RSMS indexes socioemotional impairment at an early stage of genetic FTD and may be a suitable outcome measure in forthcoming trials.