Emotional reactivity and neuropsychological assessment in ten cases of ablated temporal lobe tumors

Aim: Emotional reactivity (ER) and neuropsychological (Np) status were investigated in a case series of patients that underwent a surgical ablation of temporal lobe tumors (TLT). Methods: Ten patients (6 females, 4 males) who had undergone surgical ablation of TLT and 10 controls matched for age and gender were recruited. ER was tested using International Affective Picture System (IAPS); Clinical Global Impression evaluated behavioral disturbances, affective symptoms and emotional involvement/reaction to the pathological condition. Np assessment was carried out using well established measures; anatomopathological, neuroradiological and clinical data were also collected. Results: Patients showed more positive valence and higher arousal upon viewing neutral images compared to controls. To a lesser extent, the same pattern was observed with socially pleasant images. No affective symptoms were observed at CGI-BP evaluation. Arousal to negative images, with or without social involvement, revealed a moderately strong relationship with the patient's subjective emotional appraisal of the consequences of the illness. Conclusion: We observed an optimistic emotional environment perception and a detachment from the pathological condition related to lowered emotional involvement and reactivity to negative emotional cues. This pattern of emotional reactivity leads to the hypothesis of an effective coping strategy development to a severe pathological condition.