Neurodegeneration and the disrupted brain: Cognitive and behavioral outcomes and mechanisms

Neurodegenerative diseases increasingly reveal themselves not only through classical motor or memory symptoms but also through profound disruptions in perception, cognition, and goal-directed behavior. Distortions in attention, visual processing, interoception, executive control, and a diminished sense of agency frequently emerge across Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Parkinson’s Disease (PD), Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), and Lewy Body Dementia (LBD). These functional impairments often precede or co-occur with neuropsychiatric symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, or apathy, positioning cognitive and perceptual disturbances as core functional consequences of underlying disease mechanisms.This Research Topic aims to explore the mechanistic-to-functional continuum of cognitive and perceptual disruption in neurodegeneration, integrating work across molecular, cellular, and systems levels. We particularly welcome studies using preclinical experimental approaches, including in vivo imaging, circuit manipulation, electrophysiology, and behavioral assays in animal models, to investigate how synaptic dysfunction, glial activation, neurotransmitter imbalance, and structural degeneration lead to measurable changes in cognition, perception, and self-awareness. Studies that relate these findings to early or prodromal clinical stages are especially encouraged.In parallel, we seek research focused on characterizing and modeling functional impairments in decision-making, attentional control, metacognition, and sensory integration across both human and animal models. This includes computational modeling, translational behavioral paradigms, imaging, and digital phenotyping efforts. This integrative approach offers a timely perspective on how cognitive and behavioral disruptions arise from brain pathology, and how we might better detect, prevent, and treat them by looking for future developments in predictive tools and therapeutic strategies tailored to the complex behavioral dimensions of neurodegenerative illness.Topics of interest:• Neurocognitive profiling in prodromal and early-stage neurodegeneration, focusing on executive, attentional, and working memory decline across AD, PD, LBD, and FTD.• Visual misperceptions and perceptual distortions, examining visual hallucinations, object misidentification, and visuospatial dysfunction in dementia syndromes.• Sense of agency and motor awareness disruption, targeting breakdowns in intentional control, sensorimotor integration, and efference copy mechanisms in Parkinsonian and frontotemporal syndromes.• Decision-making and value-based behavior impairments, assessing cost–benefit reasoning, reward sensitivity, and social evaluation deficits in neurodegeneration.• Interoceptive dysfunction and emotional self-awareness, exploring how insular and cingulate degeneration impacts bodily awareness and socioemotional cognition.• Metacognitive deficits and insight loss, focusing on error monitoring, confidence miscalibration, and anosognosia across AD, LBD, and FTD.• Imaging of cognitive and perceptual networks, using PET, SPECT, or MRS to link neurotransmitter dysfunction with functional impairment.• Translational models of cognitive and perceptual dysfunction, using cross-species studies to capture early-stage impairment features.• Computational modelling of dysfunctional perception and belief, applying predictive coding and Bayesian frameworks to explain hallucinations and delusions.• Digital phenotyping of functional cognitive decline, using speech, gaze, behavior, and passive sensing to detect real-world cognitive shifts. Topic editors: Thiago P. Fernandes, Natanael Antonio Dos Santos, Gabriella Medeiros Silva, Ioannis Sotiropoulos Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/75492/neurodegeneration-and-the-disrupted-brain-cognitive-and-behavioral-outcomes-and-mechanisms