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是一种广泛应用的执行功能测试。迄今为止，对于该测试在行为变异额颞叶痴呆（bvFTD）中的实用性，这一典型的额叶退行性疾病，系统性考察却出人意料地鲜见。该数据集关联于一项研究，该研究通过直接比较76名bvFTD患者和34名语义痴呆（SD）患者（以颞叶退化为特征）的Brixton测试结果，探讨了Brixton测试的敏感性和特异性。所有患者均已被转诊至神经科学中心的专科认知诊所，Brixton测试作为其临床诊断程序的一部分而被实施。对患者在Brixton测试中的表现的研究，不仅考察了表现的量化方面（错误分数、达成集数），也考察了定性方面（错误类型）。正如预期，bvFTD患者的表现显著劣于SD患者，且达成集数更少（即识别的规则变化更少）。此外，bvFTD患者还表现出更多频繁的 perseverative（固执的）和随机错误。Perseverations（固执性错误）可以进一步细分为代表对立即先前反应、立即先前规则或非立即先前规则的重复的错误。还可以区分那些关注蓝色圆圈位置（与刺激相关）的立即先前规则的固执性错误，以及那些不考虑该位置的错误（与刺激无关）。通过这种后者（与刺激无关）的存在，可以区分bvFTD患者和SD患者。数据证实了Brixton测试在bvFTD临床评估中的价值，并指出了错误分析的临床和理论价值。