Abstract
Recent studies deal with disorders and deficits caused by vascular syndrome in efforts for prediction and prevention. Cardiovascular health declines with age due to vascular risk factors, and this leads to an increasing risk of cognitive decline. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is defined as the negative cognitive changes beyond what is expected in normal aging. The purpose of the study was to compare older adults with vascular risk factors (VRF), MCI patients, and healthy controls (HC) in social cognition and especially in theory of mind ability (ToM). The sample comprised a total of 109 adults, aged 50 to 85 years (M = 66.09, SD = 9.02). They were divided into three groups: (a) older adults with VRF, (b) MCI patients, and (c) healthy controls (HC). VRF and MCI did not differ significantly in age, educational level or gender as was the case with HC. Specifically, for assessing ToM, a social inference test was used, which was designed to measure sarcasm comprehension. Results showed that the performance of the VRF group and MCI patients is not differentiated, while HC performed higher compared to the other two groups. The findings may imply that the development of a vascular disorder affecting vessels of the brain is associated from its “first steps” to ToM decline, at least regarding specific aspects of it, such as paradoxical sarcasm understanding.
Highlights
Recent studies deal with disorders and deficits caused by vascular syndrome in efforts for prediction and prevention
The cognitive theory of mind ability (ToM) subcomponent is mostly explored using the false-belief paradigm, through which the ability to comprehend that another person’s beliefs are different from one’s own beliefs and from reality as well is measured, while affective ToM abilities are mostly related to tasks that require determining emotional mental states from images or videos of the entire face area or just the eye region
Most studies have focused on ToM, considered the central process of social cognition, as it is connected to different abilities, such as social-perception processes, emotional processes, empathy and social awareness [6]
Summary
Recent studies deal with disorders and deficits caused by vascular syndrome in efforts for prediction and prevention. The purpose of the study was to compare older adults with vascular risk factors (VRF), MCI patients, and healthy controls (HC) in social cognition and especially in theory of mind ability (ToM). Introduction with regard to jurisdictional claims in Social cognition refers to the ability to identify, observe and interpret socially relevant information It involves a broad range of abilities that extend to, among others, recognizing emotions, empathy, social knowledge and reasoning, and the theory of mind (ToM). Most studies have focused on ToM, considered the central process of social cognition, as it is connected to different abilities, such as social-perception processes, emotional processes, empathy and social awareness [6] Such abilities may be related to executive function and memory [7]. Charles and Carstensen (2010) [10] aptly report that the cognitive changes that emerge with age paint a complex picture of loss and gain, as some losses in cognitive functioning interact with some gains in knowledge or ability in other domains, which makes it difficult to get a clear picture about theory of mind abilities during the lifespan
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