The role of the ventrolateral anterior temporal lobes in social cognition

Balgova, Eva; Diveica, Veronica; Walbrin, Jon; Binney, Richard J.

doi:10.1002/hbm.25976

“…17,78,79 Theory of mind tasks, alongside social and non-social semantic processing tasks generate overlapping activation in the superior or ventral ATLs. 20,71 This common activation for theory of mind and semantic processing may reflect a shared and core role of the bilateral ATLs in generalised semantic representation. 20…”

Section: Evidence From Neuroimaging and Neurostimulation In Healthy P...mentioning

confidence: 91%

“…20,71 This common activation for theory of mind and semantic processing may reflect a shared and core role of the bilateral ATLs in generalised semantic representation. 20…”

Section: Evidence From Neuroimaging and Neurostimulation In Healthy P...mentioning

confidence: 91%

“…There are mainly disparate, isolated literatures on each FTD subtype, as well as relevant findings from other patient groups and healthy participants. [17][18][19][20] In this review we propose an integrative neurocognitive model: controlled social-semantic cognition. The model provides a unified frontotemporal framework for social behaviours that accounts for the findings from bvFTD, SD and other patient groups, drawing on comparative neurology and studies of the healthy brain.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A neuroanatomical and cognitive model of impaired social behaviour in frontotemporal dementia

Rouse¹,

Binney²,

Patterson³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Impaired social cognition is a core deficit of frontotemporal dementia (FTD). It is most commonly associated with the behavioural-variant of FTD, with atrophy of the orbitofrontal and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. However, social cognitive changes are also common in semantic dementia, with atrophy centred on the anterior temporal lobes. The impairment of social behaviour in FTD has typically been attributed to damage to the orbitofrontal cortex and/or temporal poles and/or the uncinate fasciculus that connects them. However, the relative contribution of each region is unresolved. In this review, we present a unified neurocognitive model of controlled social behaviour that not only explains the observed impairment of social behaviours in FTD, but also assimilates findings from other patient groups, comparative neurology, and normative cognitive neuroscience. We propose that impaired social behaviour results from damage to two cognitively- and anatomically-distinct components. The first component is social-semantic knowledge, supported by the anterior temporal lobes bilaterally. The second component is social control, supported by the orbitofrontal cortex, medial frontal cortex and ventrolateral frontal cortex, which interact with social-semantic knowledge to guide and shape social behaviour.

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“…There are mainly disparate, isolated literatures on each FTD subtype, as well as relevant findings from other patient groups and healthy participants. [17][18][19][20] In this review we propose an integrative neurocognitive model: controlled social-semantic cognition. The model provides a unified frontotemporal framework for social behaviours that accounts for the findings from bvFTD, SD and other patient groups, drawing on comparative neurology and studies of the healthy brain.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A neuroanatomical and cognitive model of impaired social behaviour in frontotemporal dementia

Rouse¹,

Binney²,

Patterson³

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Impaired social cognition is a core deficit of frontotemporal dementia (FTD). It is most commonly associated with the behavioural-variant of FTD, with atrophy of the orbitofrontal and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. However, social cognitive changes are also common in semantic dementia, with atrophy centred on the anterior temporal lobes. The impairment of social behaviour in FTD has typically been attributed to damage to the orbitofrontal cortex and/or temporal poles and/or the uncinate fasciculus that connects them. However, the relative contribution of each region is unresolved. In this review, we present a unified neurocognitive model of controlled social behaviour that not only explains the observed impairment of social behaviours in FTD, but also assimilates findings from other patient groups, comparative neurology, and normative cognitive neuroscience. We propose that impaired social behaviour results from damage to two cognitively- and anatomically-distinct components. The first component is social-semantic knowledge, supported by the anterior temporal lobes bilaterally. The second component is social control, supported by the orbitofrontal cortex, medial frontal cortex and ventrolateral frontal cortex, which interact with social-semantic knowledge to guide and shape social behaviour.

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“…The temporal polar region has been associated with the conceptual processing of emotional stimuli [ 50 ]. However, the ventral ATL also seems to play a vital role in socioemotional concept processing [ 49 , 52 ], indicating that further research is required to unravel the exact role of these subdivisions. Furthermore, one might also need to take into account the alternative view that both semantic and social information are processed by the same structures, but social information leads to higher activations as it is more important for humans and essential for survival [ 53 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Semantic Cognition Contribution to Mood and Anxiety Disorder Pathophysiology

Gonzalez‐García

¹

,

Visser

²

2023

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Over the last two decades, the functional role of the bilateral anterior temporal lobes (bATLs) has been receiving more attention. They have been associated with semantics and social concept processing, and are regarded as a core region for depression. In the past, the role of the ATL has often been overlooked in semantic models based on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) due to geometric distortions in the BOLD signal. However, previous work has unequivocally associated the bATLs with these higher-order cognitive functions following advances in neuroimaging techniques to overcome the geometric distortions. At the same time, the importance of the neural basis of conceptual knowledge in understanding mood disorders became apparent. Theoretical models of the neural basis of mood and anxiety disorders have been classically studied from the emotion perspective, without concentrating on conceptual processing. However, recent work suggests that the ATL, a brain region underlying conceptual knowledge, plays an essential role in mood and anxiety disorders. Patients with anxiety and depression often cope with self-blaming biases and guilt. The theory is that in order to experience guilt, the brain needs to access the related conceptual information via the ATL. This narrative review describes how aberrant interactions of the ATL with the fronto–limbic emotional system could underlie mood and anxiety disorders.

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The role of the ventrolateral anterior temporal lobes in social cognition

Cited by 20 publications

References 142 publications

A neuroanatomical and cognitive model of impaired social behaviour in frontotemporal dementia

A neuroanatomical and cognitive model of impaired social behaviour in frontotemporal dementia

A neuroanatomical and cognitive model of impaired social behaviour in frontotemporal dementia

A Semantic Cognition Contribution to Mood and Anxiety Disorder Pathophysiology

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