INS NYC 2024 Program

Speaker Portal Presentations	Program Schedule 02/15/2024 09:00 am - 10:30 am Room: Broadway Ballroom Invited Symposium 1 Social Cognition in Frontotemporal Dementia: Research Developments and Implications for Clinical Practice Summary Abstract: Frontotemporal dementia is one of the most common causes of dementia in people under the age of 65 years. Three subtypes are recognised: behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia, semantic dementia and progressive nonfluent aphasia. Clinically, individuals with frontotemporal dementia present with changes in behaviour and/or language. This symposium will consider how social cognition is affected across subtypes of frontotemporal dementia, and how assessment of social cognition can improve diagnosis and prognosis. Importantly, the speakers will also consider how culture may influence clinical presentation, with a focus on social cognition performance. Denève will present data on differentiating behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia from primary psychiatric disorders using novel measures beyond mentalising and emotion recognition. Skeggs will present data on the variation of the clinical presentation of behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia in people from culturally-diverse backgrounds. The results highlight how people from bilingual background may be less impaired on testing, particularly for non-verbal and social cognition tests. Fittipaldi will then present work demonstrating that social cognition impairment is not unique to the behavioural-variant of frontotemporal dementia, with individuals with semantic dementia and progressive nonfluent aphasia also showing impairment on tests of emotion processing, empathy and theory of mind. Finally, De Souza will consider how social cognition can differentiate between frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, and how apathy might influence performance on these tasks. The session will conclude with a discussion led by Piguet, on how these findings can inform clinical practice, and the importance of assessing social cognition in the context of dementia. Number of Credit Hours: 1.5 Level of Instruction: Intermediate Learning Objectives: 1. Describe when social cognition should be included in neuropsychological assessments in the context of dementia 2. Compare social cognition profiles in frontotemporal dementia subtypes and Alzheimer's disease 3. Discuss the influence of culture and language on performance of social cognition tests Presenter(s): Fiona Kumfor, PhD University of Sydney Dr Fiona Kumfor holds a Masters of Clinical Neuropsychology (Macquarie University) and a PhD in Neuroscience (University of New South Wales). She is currently an NHMRC Career Development Fellow (2019-2023), Associate Professor in the School of Psychology and registered Clinical Neuropsychologist with AHPRA. Combining her clinical training in neuropsychology and research expertise in cognitive neuroscience her work investigates social cognition in clinical syndromes with a focus on dementia, and aims to improve diagnosis and prognosis of dementia, while also informing neurobiological models of complex human behaviours. Agnès Denève, Master's degree Lille and Neuroscience Cognition (LILNCOG) I am a trained neuropsychologist specialized in neurodegenerative pathology since 2019 and I am currently doing a PhD in Neurosciences in Dr. Maxime Bertoux team. My research is focused on the understanding of social cognition mechanisms to contribute to the improvement of differential diagnosis between pathologies belonging to the FTLD spectrum and other pathologies (Alzheimer’s disease, and Primary Psychiatric Disorder). Three studies are expected during my PhD: (1) Neuropsychological, imaging and biological contrast between behavioral variant of fronto-temporal degeneration (bvFTD) and primary psychiatric disorder (PDD); (2) Prosody in FTLD cognitive variants and Alzheimer's disease (AD); (3) A novel neuropsychological assessment of affective and cognitive social functioning. Amira Skeggs, PhD Candidate University of Cambridge Amira Skeggs is a clinical researcher with an interest in cross-cultural neuropsychology. Her research has examined cultural differences in the clinical presentations of Frontotemporal Dementia, as well as the influence of cognitive reserve on patients' clinical and cognitive profiles. She has previously worked at the FRONTIER frontotemporal dementia clinic at the Brain and Mind Centre, working closely with patients from diverse cultural backgrounds and developing cultural assessments to aid effective diagnosis. She is currently a member of the Digital Mental Health Group at the University of Cambridge's Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, where she investigates the influence of new technologies on mental health. Sol Fittipaldi, PhD Trinity College Dublin & Global Brain Health Institute, Ireland Sol Fittipaldi is Postdoctoral Researcher at Trinity College Dublin and Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute in Ireland. She was awarded her PhD in Neuroscience in Argentina and received additional research training at the Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat) in Chile, of which she is now active member. Her research combines behavioral and neuroimaging methods to improve the characterization of sociocognitive processes in brain health and disease, with a focus on underrepresented populations from Latin America. By leveraging gold-standard social cognition tasks and pioneering new paradigms, coupled with the integration of multimodal brain correlates and lesion models, her work has unveiled distinct mechanisms underlying social cognition deficits in neurodegenerative diseases like frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease. Her most recent study shows that factors associated with socioeconomic disparities impact social cognition across multicentric samples from Europe and Latin America, including healthy older adults and patients with cognitive impairment and dementia. Her work has implications for the development of more refined social cognition tools and tailored predictive models. Leonardo de Souza, PhD Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil. I have been working in the field of Cognitive and Behavioural Neurology for at least 16 years, centered in neurodegenerative diseases, mainly Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). After concluding my medical degree and the neurological training in Brazil, I spent almost eight years at Pitié-Salpétriêre Hospital (Paris, France), where I underwent medical training in Cognitive Neurology under the supervision of Prof. Bruno Dubois and Prof. Marie Sarazin. During the period in Paris, I also did my master degree, my PhD thesis and a post-doctoral fellowship. My research activity is focused in the development and the clinical applicability of objective biomarkers for the diagnosis of AD and FTD. In particular, my research activity encompasses different biomarkers, such as neuroimaging signatures of neurodegenerative diseases, CSF biomarkers and neuropsychological tests. My scientific production led to date more than 100 publications in peer-reviewed international journals. My current H factor is 44, with 12682 citations (Google Scholar). In 2013, I received a Grant from the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development and I decided to move back to my hometown, Belo Horizonte (Brazil). Currently, I am Assistant Professor at the School of Medicine of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). Since then, I have established scientific collaborations with international teams on the field of Cognitive and Behavioural Neurology and my actual main research activity is focused on FTD and its relation with AD, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and progressive supranuclear palsy.

Speaker Portal Presentations

02/15/2024
09:00 am - 10:30 am
Room: Broadway Ballroom

Invited Symposium 1

Social Cognition in Frontotemporal Dementia: Research Developments and Implications for Clinical Practice

Summary Abstract:

Frontotemporal dementia is one of the most common causes of dementia in people under the age of 65 years. Three subtypes are recognised: behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia, semantic dementia and progressive nonfluent aphasia. Clinically, individuals with frontotemporal dementia present with changes in behaviour and/or language.

This symposium will consider how social cognition is affected across subtypes of frontotemporal dementia, and how assessment of social cognition can improve diagnosis and prognosis. Importantly, the speakers will also consider how culture may influence clinical presentation, with a focus on social cognition performance.

Denève will present data on differentiating behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia from primary psychiatric disorders using novel measures beyond mentalising and emotion recognition.

Skeggs will present data on the variation of the clinical presentation of behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia in people from culturally-diverse backgrounds. The results highlight how people from bilingual background may be less impaired on testing, particularly for non-verbal and social cognition tests.

Fittipaldi will then present work demonstrating that social cognition impairment is not unique to the behavioural-variant of frontotemporal dementia, with individuals with semantic dementia and progressive nonfluent aphasia also showing impairment on tests of emotion processing, empathy and theory of mind.

Finally, De Souza will consider how social cognition can differentiate between frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, and how apathy might influence performance on these tasks.

The session will conclude with a discussion led by Piguet, on how these findings can inform clinical practice, and the importance of assessing social cognition in the context of dementia.

Number of Credit Hours: 1.5

Level of Instruction: Intermediate

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe when social cognition should be included in neuropsychological assessments in the context of dementia
2. Compare social cognition profiles in frontotemporal dementia subtypes and Alzheimer's disease
3. Discuss the influence of culture and language on performance of social cognition tests

Presenter(s):

Fiona Kumfor, PhD

University of Sydney

Dr Fiona Kumfor holds a Masters of Clinical Neuropsychology (Macquarie University) and a PhD in Neuroscience (University of New South Wales). She is currently an NHMRC Career Development Fellow (2019-2023), Associate Professor in the School of Psychology and registered Clinical Neuropsychologist with AHPRA. Combining her clinical training in neuropsychology and research expertise in cognitive neuroscience her work investigates social cognition in clinical syndromes with a focus on dementia, and aims to improve diagnosis and prognosis of dementia, while also informing neurobiological models of complex human behaviours.

Agnès Denève, Master's degree

Lille and Neuroscience Cognition (LILNCOG)

I am a trained neuropsychologist specialized in neurodegenerative pathology since 2019 and I am currently doing a PhD in Neurosciences in Dr. Maxime Bertoux team. My research is focused on the understanding of social cognition mechanisms to contribute to the improvement of differential diagnosis between pathologies belonging to the FTLD spectrum and other pathologies (Alzheimer’s disease, and Primary Psychiatric Disorder). Three studies are expected during my PhD: (1) Neuropsychological, imaging and biological contrast between behavioral variant of fronto-temporal degeneration (bvFTD) and primary psychiatric disorder (PDD); (2) Prosody in FTLD cognitive variants and Alzheimer's disease (AD); (3) A novel neuropsychological assessment of affective and cognitive social functioning.

Amira Skeggs, PhD Candidate

University of Cambridge

Amira Skeggs is a clinical researcher with an interest in cross-cultural neuropsychology. Her research has examined cultural differences in the clinical presentations of Frontotemporal Dementia, as well as the influence of cognitive reserve on patients' clinical and cognitive profiles. She has previously worked at the FRONTIER frontotemporal dementia clinic at the Brain and Mind Centre, working closely with patients from diverse cultural backgrounds and developing cultural assessments to aid effective diagnosis. She is currently a member of the Digital Mental Health Group at the University of Cambridge's Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, where she investigates the influence of new technologies on mental health.

Sol Fittipaldi, PhD

Trinity College Dublin & Global Brain Health Institute, Ireland

Sol Fittipaldi is Postdoctoral Researcher at Trinity College Dublin and Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute in Ireland. She was awarded her PhD in Neuroscience in Argentina and received additional research training at the Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat) in Chile, of which she is now active member. Her research combines behavioral and neuroimaging methods to improve the characterization of sociocognitive processes in brain health and disease, with a focus on underrepresented populations from Latin America. By leveraging gold-standard social cognition tasks and pioneering new paradigms, coupled with the integration of multimodal brain correlates and lesion models, her work has unveiled distinct mechanisms underlying social cognition deficits in neurodegenerative diseases like frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease. Her most recent study shows that factors associated with socioeconomic disparities impact social cognition across multicentric samples from Europe and Latin America, including healthy older adults and patients with cognitive impairment and dementia. Her work has implications for the development of more refined social cognition tools and tailored predictive models.

Leonardo de Souza, PhD

Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

I have been working in the field of Cognitive and Behavioural Neurology for at least 16 years, centered in neurodegenerative diseases, mainly Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

After concluding my medical degree and the neurological training in Brazil, I spent almost eight years at Pitié-Salpétriêre Hospital (Paris, France), where I underwent medical training in Cognitive Neurology under the supervision of Prof. Bruno Dubois and Prof. Marie Sarazin. During the period in Paris, I also did my master degree, my PhD thesis and a post-doctoral fellowship.

My research activity is focused in the development and the clinical applicability of objective biomarkers for the diagnosis of AD and FTD. In particular, my research activity encompasses different biomarkers, such as neuroimaging signatures of neurodegenerative diseases, CSF biomarkers and neuropsychological tests. My scientific production led to date more than 100 publications in peer-reviewed international journals. My current H factor is 44, with 12682 citations (Google Scholar).

In 2013, I received a Grant from the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development and I decided to move back to my hometown, Belo Horizonte (Brazil). Currently, I am Assistant Professor at the School of Medicine of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). Since then, I have established scientific collaborations with international teams on the field of Cognitive and Behavioural Neurology and my actual main research activity is focused on FTD and its relation with AD, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and progressive supranuclear palsy.