Social cognition in childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes

Individual-based morphological brain network changes in children with Rolandic epilepsy

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the local cortical morphology and individual-based morphological brain networks (MBNs) changes in children with Rolandic epilepsy (RE).

METHODS

Based on the structural MRI data of 56 children with RE and 56 healthy controls (HC), we constructed four types of individual-based MBNs using morphological indices (cortical thickness [CT], fractal dimension [FD], gyrification index [GI], and sulcal depth [SD]). The global and nodal properties of the brain networks were analyzed using graph theory. The between-group difference in local morphology and network topology was estimated, and partial correlation analysis was further analyzed.

RESULTS

Compared with the HC, children with RE showed regional GI increases in the right posterior cingulate gyrus and SD increases in the right anterior cingulate gyrus and medial prefrontal cortex. Regarding the network level, RE exhibited increased characteristic path length in CT-based and FD-based networks, while decreased FD-based network node efficiency in the right inferior frontal gyrus. No significant correlation between altered morphological features and clinical variables was found in RE.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings indicated that children with RE have disrupted morphological brain network organization beyond local morphology changes.

SIGNIFICANCE

The present study could provide more theoretical basis for exploring the neuropathological mechanisms in RE.

Pilot study on the effectiveness of the socialmind program for the rehabilitation of social cognition following acquired brain injury

Background

People with acquired brain injury (ABI) often have Social Cognition (SC) deficits. Impairment of SC causes the individual to have difficulties in daily functioning and can lead to social isolation. Research aimed at rehabilitation of SC in individuals with ABI is scarce and almost always addresses only one component of this ability.

Objective

This pilot study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the new "SocialMind" program in improving all core components of SC in people with ABI.

Method

The study included 31 participants with ABI, divided into experimental and control groups. The study spanned 44 weeks, involving an initial meeting, evaluation, training, and final assessment phases. The SocialMind program, structured into four modules, each with a duration of 30 h, targeted each SC component through tailored exercises. The program addressed emotion recognition, social awareness, ToM, and empathy.

Results

The SocialMind group demonstrated significant improvements in emotion recognition (p = 0.017), social knowledge (p < 0.001), and empathy (p = 0.001) compared to the control group. ToM also showed a notable improvement that approached significance (p = 0.057).

Conclusion

This pilot study suggests that the SocialMind program effectively enhances three of the four core components of SC in individuals with ABI.

Social cognition in children and adolescents with epilepsy: A meta-analysis

Many studies have investigated impairments in two key domains of social cognition (theory of mind [ToM] and facial emotion recognition [FER]) in children and adolescents with epilepsy. However, inconsistent conclusions were found. Our objective was to characterize social cognition performance of children and adolescents with epilepsy. A literature search was conducted using Web of Science, PubMed, and Embase databases. The article retrieval, screening, quality assessment (Newcastle-Ottawa-Scale), and data extraction were performed independently by two investigators. A random-effects model was used to examine estimates. The meta-analysis included 19 studies, with a combined sample of 623 children and adolescents with epilepsy (mean [SD] age, 12.13 [2.62] years; 46.1% female) and 677 healthy controls [HCs]) (mean [SD] age, 11.48 [2.71] years; 50.7% female). The results revealed that relative to HCs, children and adolescents with epilepsy exhibited deficits in ToM (g = -1.08, 95% CI [-1.38, -0.78], p < 0.001, the number of studies [k] = 13), FER (g = -0.98, 95% CI [-1.33, -0.64], p < 0.001, k = 12), and ToM subcomponents (cognitive ToM: g = -1.04, 95% CI [-1.35, -0.72], p < 0.001, k = 12] and affective ToM: g = -0.73, 95% CI [-1.12, -0.34], p < 0.001, k = 8). In addition, there were no statistically significant differences in social cognition deficits between children and adolescents with focal epilepsy and generalized epilepsy. Meta-regressions confirmed the robustness of the results. These quantitative results further deepen our understanding of the two core domains of social cognition in children and adolescents with epilepsy and may assist in the development of cognitive interventions for this patient population. Systematic review registration: https://inplasy.com/inplasy-2022-3-0011/, identifier INPLASY202230011.

Theory of Mind and Empathy in Adults With Epilepsy: A Meta-Analysis

Mounting evidence suggests that social cognitive abilities [including theory of mind (ToM) and empathy] are impaired in adult patients with epilepsy. Although the deficits in overall ToM in epilepsy have been documented well, the effects of epilepsy on empathic ability and specific subcomponents of ToM remain unclear. The primary aim of this study was to provide the first meta-analytic integration of ToM and empathy in adult patients with epilepsy, and to decompose these constructs to clearly differentiate their distinct (cognitive ToM and affective empathy) and overlapping (affective ToM/cognitive empathy) components. This meta-analysis included 28 studies. Adult patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) showed impairments in cognitive ToM and affective ToM/cognitive empathy compared to the healthy controls (HCs); no group differences were identified for affective empathy. Besides, cognitive ToM was impaired in adult patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) and focal seizures (caused by epileptogenic foci) outside the temporal and frontal lobes (extra-TLE/FLE) and no group differences were evident for affective ToM/cognitive empathy compared to the HCs. Moreover, relative to the HCs, no group differences were identified for affective empathy in adult patients with IGE. Additionally, no (statistically) significant difference was observed between the magnitude of ToM/empathy impairment in adult patients who underwent and those who did not undergo epilepsy surgery. These quantitative findings suggest differential impairment of the core aspects of social cognitive processing in adult patients with epilepsy, which may contribute to the development of structured cognitive interventions (i.e., social cognitive training) for adult patients with epilepsy.

Associating executive dysfunction with behavioral and socioemotional problems in children with epilepsy. A systematic review

As children with epilepsy may have a number of learning and behavioral problems, it is important that insight into the underlying neurocognitive differences in these children, which may underlie these areas of challenge is gained. Executive function (EF) problems particularly are associated with specific learning abilities as well as behavioral problems. We aim to review systematically the current status of empirical studies on the association between EF problems and behavior and socioemotional problems in children with epilepsy. After search, 26 empirical studies were identified, most of them of moderate quality. Overall, attention problems were the most reported cognitive deficit in test assessment and the most reported problem by parents. In 54% of the studies, children with epilepsy scored below average compared to controls/normative samples on different aspects of EF. Most studies reported behavior problems, which ranged from mild to severe. Forty-two percent of the studies specifically reported relationships between EF deficits and behavioral problems. In the remaining studies, below average neuropsychological functioning seemed to be accompanied by above average reported behavioral problems. The association was most pronounced for cognitive control and attention in relation to externalizing behavior problems. This cognitive control is also associated with social functioning. Relevant epilepsy variables in this relationship were early age at onset and high seizure frequency.Future research should distinguish specific aspects of EF and take age into account, as this provides more insight on the association between EF and behavior in pediatric epilepsy, which makes it possible to develop appropriate and early intervention.