Publication Date
2-2013
Description
We examined aesthetic preference for reproductions of paintings among frontotemporal dementia (FTD) patients, in two sessions separated by 2 weeks. The artworks were in three different styles: representational, quasirepresentational, and abstract. Stability of preference for the paintings was equivalent to that shown by a matched group of Alzheimer's disease patients and a group of healthy controls drawn from an earlier study. We expected that preference for representational art would be affected by disruptions in language processes in the FTD group. However, this was not the case and the FTD patients, despite severe language processing deficits, performed similarly across all three art styles. These data show that FTD patients maintain a sense of aesthetic appraisal despite cognitive impairment and should be amenable to therapies and enrichment activities involving art.
Journal
Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts
Volume
7
Issue
1
First Page
95
Last Page
99
Department
Psychology
Link to Published Version
Recommended Citation
Halpern, Andrea R. and O'Connor, Margaret G.. "Stability of Art Preference in Frontotemporal Dementia." Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts (2013) : 95-99.