The relationship between theory of mind and decision-making in patients with early Parkinson’s disease

MARÍA ROCA; TERESA TORRALVA; EZEQUIEL GLEICHGERRCHT; ARÉVALO GONZALO; ANABEL CHADE; OSCAR GERSHANIK; FACUNDO MANES

Buenos Aires

Congreso; 14th International Congress of Parkinson´s Disease and Movement Disorders; 2010

The Movement Disorder Society

OBJECTIVE: The goal of the present study was to investigate the relationship between theory of mind (TOM) and decision-making deficits in a group of early Parkinson Disease (PD) patients. BACKGROUND: Theory of Mind (ToM) and decision-making deficits have been described in patients with Parkinson Disease (PD), however the relationship between both deficits in this pathology remains unclear. DESIGN/METHODS: We studied a group of patients with early PD (n = 28) and a group of matched normal controls (n = 22) on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) of decision-making, and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes and Faux pas tests of ToM. RESULTS: As predicted, the PD group was impaired in reading the mind in the eyes (p < 0.05), the Faux Pas test (p < 0.01) and the Iowa Gambling Task (p = 0.01). Performance measures from ToM were not associated with each other or with Iowa Gambling Task performance. CONCLUSIONS: This finding suggests that both Theory of Mind tasks may be assessing different subcomponents of this function and that, in early PD, deficits in ToM and Decision Making may have distinct but additive effects upon the development of social behavior.