Laboratory-based methods derived from basic emotion research can provide a fine-grained, in vivoassessment of emotional functioning in frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and Alzheimer's disease(AD) two of the most common dementing disorders. In the next project period, we will continue and expandthis translational research strategy, using these methods to examine multiple emotion processes (reactivity,regulation, knowledge, socioemotional behavior), multiple emotion response systems (peripheral physiology,expressive behavior, subjective experience, eye movements, language), multiple emotion families (positive,negative, self-conscious emotions), and multiple emotion contexts (intrapersonal and interpersonal) in FTLDpatients, AD patients, and age-matched normal controls. As with the other projects in this renewal, we willincrease our emphasis on: (a) distinguishing between FTLD subtypes of frontotemporal dementia (FTD),progressive non-fluent aphasia (PNFA), and semantic dementia (SD); (b) mapping emotional functioning onto volume loss and hypoperfusion in designated brain regions, and (c) exploring emotional functioning inpatients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The research addresses six specific aims: (1) to usemethods derived from basic emotion research to evaluate emotional functioning (reactivity, regulation,knowledge) in FTLD and AD; (2) to evaluate social behavior in FTLD and AD patients by studying dyadicinteraction with caregivers; (3) to evaluate relationships between specific regions of brain volume loss andhypoperfusion and attendant deficits in and preservation of emotional functioning and social behavior; (4) todelineate differences in emotional functioning among FTLD subtypes (FTD, PNFA, SD) and between thesesubtypes and ALS; (5) to evaluate the integrity of low-level emotional processes (startle eye-blink modulationby emotion, eye-movement capture by and search patterns for emotional stimuli, preattentive processing ofemotional information) in FTLD and AD; and (6) to determine the relations between neuropsychological andbedside measures of cognitive functioning and laboratory-based assessment of emotional functioning. Thisresearch has significant public health benefits. We believe the findings will prove to be extremely useful inimproving the accuracy of clinical diagnosis, monitoring the course of disease progression, understandingthe basis of symptomatology, evaluating the effectiveness of present and future treatments, and in helpingimprove quality of life for patients and their families.
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