Abstract
Objective: Cognitive deficits following stroke are well documented, but less is known about problems with social skills such as understanding others' thoughts and feelings. This study investigated the effect of stroke on a visual-affective measure of social understanding: the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test (RMET). The aims were to investigate whether right hemisphere stroke was particularly detrimental to this aspect of Theory of Mind (ToM), and investigate the relationship between ToM ability and executive function following stroke.
Methods: Performance of stroke patients (right hemisphere stroke, n = 15; left hemisphere stroke, n = 15) was compared to that of controls (n = 40) matched for age, years of education, and IQ on tasks measuring ToM and executive functioning.
Results: Right hemisphere stroke was associated with impaired ToM ability, but left hemisphere stroke was not. There was no effect of stroke on a matched non-ToM control task. High correlations were found between performance on the RMET and some measures of executive functioning in participants with right hemisphere stroke only. Further analyses suggested that deficits in executive functioning could not statistically explain all of the difficulties shown by stroke participants on the RMET.
Conclusions: A reduction in the ability to attribute mental states to others following right hemisphere stroke may adversely affect psychosocial functioning, disrupt interpersonal relationships, and lead to reduced quality of life. The clinical importance of these findings, implications for clinical practice and future research are discussed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 507-518 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| Early online date | 27 Apr 2017 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Aug 2017 |
Bibliographical note
FundingThis research was not supported by external funding.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Dr Maggie Whyte, Consultant Clinical Neuropsychologist and Dr Fiona Summers, Consultant Clinical Neuropsychologist for their advice and support before and during the project; Dr Alastair Cozens, Consultant in Rehabilitation Medicine for his advice in planning stages of the project, as well as Staff on the Stroke Rehabilitation Ward at Woodend Hospital, Aberdeen. Most importantly, we would like to thank all the participants who kindly agreed to take part in this study.
Keywords
- Stroke
- Theory of mind
- Executive functioning
- Social cognition