# Cognitive and Neural Mechanisms of Antisocial Behavior in Frontotemporal Dementia

> **NIH NIH K23** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · 2021 · $175,716

## Abstract

ABSTRACT: Antisocial behavior is common in patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). These behaviors
result in significant morbidity and can lead to crimes in extreme cases. Yet despite being one of the most
challenging and problematic symptoms to manage clinically, the mechanisms leading to antisocial behavior in
FTD are unknown, and treatments remain limited. The goal of the current proposal is to determine the
cognitive and neural mechanisms leading to antisocial behavior in FTD. Understanding these
mechanisms will have a major impact on FTD patients by improving clinical evaluations to monitor the onset
and progression of antisocial behaviors, helping to develop novel pharmacologic and neuromodulatory
treatment strategies, and informing legal and ethical treatment of FTD patients who commit crimes. In Aim 1 I
will examine the neural mechanisms and the hypothesis that FTD patients with antisocial behavior will have
atrophy in a pre-defined network of brain regions I identified in patients with antisocial behaviors caused by
focal brain lesions. I will test this hypothesis using a new neuroimaging method I recently developed and
validated called atrophy network mapping that uses the human connectome and single-subject atrophy maps
to localize neurological symptoms to brain networks rather than an isolated region. In Aim 2 I will examine the
cognitive mechanisms and the hypothesis that FTD patients with antisocial behavior have specific impairments
in moral decision-making. My long-term goal is to use multimodal neuroimaging and decision-making tasks to
better understand the mechanisms leading to antisocial behavior and other behavioral problems in dementia
patients. To achieve this goal, a training plan is proposed to learn additional research skills in functional
neuroimaging methods (Training goal 1) and the neuropsychology of social decision-making (Training Goal 2).
Additional training in leadership, biostatistics, and grant-writing will prepare me to achieve independence
(Training goal 3). A mentorship team of experts has been assembled to help me achieve these training goals,
consisting of Dr. Daniel Claassen (primary mentor), a behavioral neurologists who studies reward-based
decision-making and functional neuroimaging in patients with neurodegenerative disorders; Dr. David Zald (co-
primary mentor), a neuropsychologist and cognitive neuroscientist who uses functional neuroimaging to study
decision-making in aging and antisocial behavior; and Dr. Bennett Landman (co-mentor), a neuroimager who
develops computational methods to study neuroimaging changes in aging. The team will also include Dr.
Hakmook Kang (collaborator), a biostatistician with expertise in neuroimaging, Dr. Catherine Chang, a
neuroimager with expertise in functional connectivity, and Dr. Katherine Rankin (external consultant), a
neuropsychologist with expertise in psychometric assessments of social and emotional processing in FTD.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10214997
- **Project number:** 1K23AG070320-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Richard Ryan Darby
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $175,716
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-06-01 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10214997

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10214997, Cognitive and Neural Mechanisms of Antisocial Behavior in Frontotemporal Dementia (1K23AG070320-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10214997. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*