Empathy in neurodegenerative diseases: A systematic review

Introduction: Empathy, in its affective and cognitive components, is a crucial interpersonal ability. It is broadly studied in the field of psychopathology, whereas its study in the neurodegenerative diseases is relatively recent. Existing literature, though, focused on a reduced subset of considered diseases, which often found a compromise in empathy abilities. Organized knowledge about a more comprehensive set of diseases is lacking. Method: The present PRISMA systematic review was aimed at collecting the current available literature concerning empathic alterations in adult patients affected by neurodegenerative diseases. It considered the different empathy components, evaluated existing patterns, the impact on patients’ lives, and treatment considerations. Results: Overall, the 32 retrieved studies describe a spread deterioration of empathic abilities in patients, with each disease displaying its own pattern of empathy functioning. Literature in this field is fragmented and of heter...