Brixton test data in bvFTD and SD

The Brixton Spatial Anticipation Test is a widely used test of executive function. There has hitherto been surprisingly little systematic examination of the usefulness of the test in behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), the prototypical degenerative disorder of the frontal lobes. The dataset relates to a study that explored the sensitivity and specificity of the Brixton test through a direct comparison of 76 patients with bvFTD and 34 with semantic dementia (SD), characterised by degeneration of the temporal lobes. All patients had been referred to a specialist cognitive clinic within a neuroscience centre and the Brixton test had been administered as part of their clinical diagnostic work-up. The study of patients' Brixton performance investigated both quantitative (error scores, sets achieved) and qualitative (error types) aspects of performance. bvFTD patients, as predicted, performed significantly more poorly than SD patients and achieved fewer sets (i.e. identified fewer rule shifts). bvFTD patients were distinguished too by more frequent perseverative and random errors. Perseverations could be subdivided into those representing repetition of an immediately preceding response, an immediately preceding rule, or an earlier rule that is not the immediately preceding one. A distinction could also be drawn between perseverations of the immediately preceding rule that take note of the position of the blue circle (stimulus-related) and those that do not (stimulus unrelated). bvFTD patients could be distinguished from SD by the presence of the latter. The data confirm the value of the Brixton test in the clinical assessment of bvFTD and point to the clinical and theoretical value of analysis of errors.

布里克斯顿空间预期测试（Brixton Spatial Anticipation Test）是一种应用广泛的执行功能（executive function）测评工具。迄今为止，针对该测试在行为变异型额颞叶痴呆（behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia, bvFTD）——这一典型的额叶退行性疾病——中的应用价值，系统性研究仍较为匮乏。
本数据集关联一项研究，该研究通过直接对比76例bvFTD患者与34例语义性痴呆（semantic dementia, SD）患者（后者以颞叶退化为特征），探究了布里克斯顿测试的敏感性与特异性。所有受试者均转诊至某神经科学中心的专科认知门诊，布里克斯顿测试作为其临床诊断评估流程的一部分得以实施。
本研究针对患者的布里克斯顿测试表现，同时考察了表现的定量指标（错误得分、完成任务组数）与定性特征（错误类型）。如预期所示，bvFTD患者的表现显著差于SD患者，且完成的任务组数更少，即识别出的规则转换次数更少。此外，bvFTD患者更易出现持续性错误与随机性错误。
持续性错误可细分为三类：重复紧邻前一次反应、重复紧邻前一条规则，或重复非紧邻前一条的更早规则。同时，还可将针对紧邻前一条规则的持续性错误进一步区分为两类：一类会关注蓝色圆圈的位置（刺激相关），另一类则不关注（刺激无关）。bvFTD患者与SD患者的区别在于前者更易出现后者这类错误。
本研究数据证实了布里克斯顿测试在bvFTD临床评估中的应用价值，同时凸显了错误分析在临床与理论层面的双重价值。