Personality Changes in Dementia: Are They Disease Specific and Universal?
| Autores | Torrente F, Pose M, Gleichgerrcht E, Torralva T, López PL, Cetkovich M, Manes F. |
|---|---|
| Año | 2014 |
| Journal | Torrente F, Pose M, Gleichgerrcht E, Torralva T, López PL, Cetkovich M, Manes F. |
| Volumen | 28:261-8 |
| Abstract | Previous studies about personality changes in dementia suggest that they may be due to the disruption of the biological basis of personality traits, and hence, that they are disease specific and universal. However, evidence about its specificity is still limited and scarce regarding culturally diverse populations. Accordingly, our aim was to compare personality changes in Argentinean patients with Alzheimer disease, behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia, and primary progressive aphasia. The closest living relatives of patients diagnosed with Alzheimer disease (n=19), behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (n=16), and primary progressive aphasia (n=15) were asked to complete 2 versions of the personality inventory NEO Personality Inventory-Revised, one for assessing patients’ premorbid personality traits, and the other for assessing current traits. All groups showed changes in several domains and facets of the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised. Globally, the observed pattern of changes was fairly consistent with previous studies based on the same model of personality. Nevertheless, our results regarding disease-specificity were less conclusive. Even if there were some indicators of specific differences between groups, most traits varied similarly across the 3 groups, revealing a pattern of generalized changes in personality expression after illness onset. More studies are needed that help to distinguish real personality changes from other affective or cognitive symptoms that accompany dementia, as well as further data from culturally diverse populations. |
| Otra información | Los resultados de este estudio evidencian una compleja serie de cambios en la expresión de la personalidad en los pacientes con enfermedades neurodegenerativas (AD y DFT). Por un lado, los resultados favorecen la hipótesis de un cambio general de la personalidad en diversos tipos de demencia, con numerosos rasgos que presentan cambios compartidos en las diferentes condiciones examinadas. Por otro lado, se encontraron escasas diferencias entre las enfermedades estudiadas, lo cual brinda solamente un apoyo parcial a la hipótesis de cambios específicos de la personalidad en diferentes trastornos neurodegenerativos, sostenida en trabajos previos sobre la temática. Este complejo patrón de resultados y su interpretación en el marco de una teoría estructurada de la personalidad refuerzan la necesidad de disección y control de los múltiples procesos que podrían afectar al sistema de la personalidad, entre estos, el rol de los trastornos psiquiátricos y los déficit neuropsicológicos en la expresión de los rasgos de personalidad. |