Oxytocin and Social Cognition in Frontotemporal Dementia
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2010-11-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Investigations into the components of cognition damaged in frontotemporal dementia (FTD)
demonstrate that patients with FTD show deficits in facial and verbal expression recognition,
lack insight into what others think or might do (theory of mind skills), and in decision
making tasks requiring processing of positive versus negative feedback. These cognitive
functions are thought to be critical for appropriate social behavioural regulation (Blair,
2003). Recent studies in animal models and humans suggest that the neuropeptide oxytocin is
an important mediator of social behavior and that oxytocin may facilitate emotion
recognition, theory of mind processing, and prosocial behaviors (Donaldson and Young, 2008).
Together, these findings suggest that upregulation of oxytocin dependent mechanisms of social
and emotional cognition may be a valuable treatment approach in patients with FTD. The aim of
this study is to determine how administration of intranasal oxytocin to patients with
frontotemporal dementia affects behavior and processing of specific types of social and
emotional information.The investigators' hypothesis is that oxytocin administration will
improve emotional and social cognitive deficits in patients with FTD, resulting in improved
decision making and behaviour.