Social cognition in dementia syndromes

This chapter describes social cognition impairment in some of the most common dementia syndromes, including subtypes of frontotemporal dementia and typical and atypical presentations of Alzheimer’s disease. The clinical features of each syndrome are outlined with reference to case studies. For each syndrome, we review current knowledge regarding the profile of social cognition impairment, across areas of emotion perception, empathy, theory of mind and disorders of social behaviour. As profiles of impairment vary across dementia syndromes, we emphasize the importance of including tests of social cognition in neuropsychological assessments of dementia, which will aid in differential diagnosis and implementation of tailored intervention and management strategies.