Effects of Cognitive and Depressive Status on Empathy in Healthy Elderly, Amnestic MCI, and Dementia of the Alzheimer's Type.

Abstract

Background and purpose: Empathy comprises cognitive and emotional components. However, the impairments in empathy among individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT) are not well understood, particularly in the context of depression, which may exacerbate these deficits. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of neurodegeneration and depression on empathetic abilities.

Methods: The study included 31 healthy elderly (HE) individuals, 30 patients with amnestic multi-domain MCI (amMCI), and 30 patients with DAT. Empathy was assessed using the Korean-Multifaceted Empathy Test (K-MET), and the Interpersonal Response Index (IRI). Participants were classified as depressed or non-depressed using the Geriatric Depression Scale. A two-way MANOVA was conducted to examine differences in empathy based on group and depressive status.

Results: A significant interaction between group and depressive status was found for both cognitive and emotional empathy on the K-MET, but not on the IRI. In the depressed group, cognitive empathy scores were lower in the order of HE, amMCI, and DAT. Similarly, in the non-depressed group, the HE group performed better than both amMCI and DAT, with no significant difference between the latter two. Regarding emotional empathy, the depressed HE group scored higher than both amMCI and DAT, with no significant difference between these groups. In the non-depressed group, emotional empathy declined in the order of HE, amMCI, and DAT.

Conclusions: These findings indicate that both neurodegeneration and depression significantly impair empathetic abilities, with declines in cognitive and emotional empathy evident at the MCI stage, regardless of depressive status.