EMOTIONS

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Laboratory-based methods derived from basic emotion research can provide a fine-grained, in vivo assessment 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 expand this 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 FTLD patients, AD patients, and age-matched normal controls. As with the other projects in this renewal, we will increase 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 on to volume loss and hypoperfusion in designated brain regions, and (c) exploring emotional functioning in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The research addresses six specific aims: (1) to use methods 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 dyadic interaction with caregivers; (3) to evaluate relationships between specific regions of brain volume loss and hypoperfusion and attendant deficits in and preservation of emotional functioning and social behavior; (4) to delineate differences in emotional functioning among FTLD subtypes (FTD, PNFA, SD) and between these subtypes and ALS; (5) to evaluate the integrity of low-level emotional processes (startle eye-blink modulation by emotion, eye-movement capture by and search patterns for emotional stimuli, preattentive processing of emotional information) in FTLD and AD; and (6) to determine the relations between neuropsychological and bedside measures of cognitive functioning and laboratory-based assessment of emotional functioning. This research has significant public health benefits. We believe the findings will prove to be extremely useful in improving the accuracy of clinical diagnosis, monitoring the course of disease progression, understanding the basis of symptomatology, evaluating the effectiveness of present and future treatments, and in helping improve quality of life for patients and their families.