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The current diagnostic criteria for the behavioural variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) foresee a relative sparing of long-term memory. Although bvFTD patients were thought to report secondary memory deficits associated with prefrontal dysfunctions, some studies indicated the presence of a “genuine memory deficit” related to mesial temporal lobe dysfunctions. Among various neuropsychological tests, the Free and Cue Selective Reminding Test (FCSRT) has been recommended to distinguish genuine from apparent amnesia. We conducted a systematic review and a random effect Bayesian meta-analysis to evaluate the nature and severity of memory deficit in bvFTD. Our objective was to determine whether the existing literature offers evidence of genuine or apparent amnesia in patients with bvFTD, as assessed via the FCSRT. On 06/19/2021, we conducted a search across four databases (PMC, Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed). We included all studies that evaluated memory performance using the FCSRT in patients with bvFTD, as long as they also included either cognitively unimpaired participants or AD groups. We tested publication bias through the Funnel plot and Egger’s test. To assess the quality of studies, we used the Newcastle-Ottawa quality assessment scale adapted for cross-sectional studies. We included 16 studies in the meta-analysis. The results showed that bvFTD patients perform better than AD patients (pooled effects between 0.95 and 1.14), as their memory performance stands between AD and control groups (pooled effects between − 2.19 and − 1.25). Moreover, patients with bvFTD present both genuine and secondary memory disorders. As a major limitation of this study, due to our adoption of a rigorous methodology and stringent inclusion criteria, we ended up with just 16 studies. Nonetheless, our robust findings can contribute to the ongoing discussion on international consensus criteria for bvFTD and the selection of appropriate neuropsychological tools to facilitate t

Recentemente, la Realtà Virtuale (virtual reality, VR) è entrata nel campo della ricerca sulla valutazione neuropsicologica. L'impatto di questa tecnologia è attualmente discusso in letteratura, poiché viene considerata come possibile promotrice di un cambio di paradigma per lo sviluppo di nuovi test neuropsicologici. Pertanto, al fine di contribuire a questa discussione in corso, il presente lavoro ha molteplici scopi. In primo luogo, esamina lo stato dell'arte della tecnologia VR e della sua implementazione per lo sviluppo di nuovi strumenti di valutazione, presentando i vantaggi più importanti di questa adozione, le sfide e i potenziali effetti negativi da considerare. Successivamente, l'indagine principale si lega alla comprensione delle differenze tra due tipi di ambienti virtuali immersivi attualmente utilizzati per simulare compiti volti a una valutazione ecologica del funzionamento cognitivo: Model-Based VR e 360°-VR. Per fare ciò, sono stati condotti due esperimenti within-group che hanno confrontato misure relative alle prestazioni e alla user-experience durante l'esecuzione di varianti di attività VR immersive basate sui due tipi di ambienti virtuali sopra menzionati. Le prove raccolte hanno supportato lo sviluppo di un terzo studio, che descrive un test VR pilota presentato come primo esempio assoluto di un test di screening cognitivo multi-dominio basato sulla 360°-VR. È stata valutata la performance di questo nuovo test nel distinguere gli individui con deficit cognitivi dai controlli sani, con un'ulteriore attenzione allo studio dell'usabilità percepita e al possibile insorgenza di sintomi legati alla motion sickness. Infine, come possibile sviluppo futuro, viene presentato uno studio di fattibilità che descrive un'estensione del test che include un sistema avanzato per la raccolta dati, basato sull’eye-tracking e sulla speech recognition., Recently, virtual reality (VR) entered the field of neuropsychological assessment research. This technology’s impact is currently discussed in the literature, as it is considered a possible promoter of a paradigm shift for neuropsychological testing. Thus, in order to contribute to this ongoing discussion, the present work has multiple purposes. First, it looks at the state-of-the-art of VR technology and its implementation in developing novel assessment tools, presenting the most important benefits of this adoption and the challenges and potential side effects to consider. Then, the core investigation is related to understanding the differences between two kinds of immersive virtual environments currently used to simulate tasks aimed at an ecological assessment of cognitive functioning: Model-Based VR and 360°-VR. To do this, two within-group experiments were carried out to compare performance and user experience-related measures during the execution of immersive VR task variants based on the two abovementioned kinds of virtual environments. The collected evidence supported the development of a third study describing a pilot VR test presented as a first-time example of a multidomain cognitive screening test based on 360°-VR. The performance of this novel-developed test in distinguishing cognitively impaired individuals from unimpaired controls was assessed, with an additional focus on investigating perceived usability and the possible occurrence of simulation sickness. Finally, a feasibility study presenting an extension of the test, including advanced data collection, such as eye-tracking and speech recognition, is offered as a possible future upgrade.