TY - JOUR
T1 - Moving on with (social) cognition in idiopathic cervical dystonia
AU - Coenen, Maraike A
AU - Spikman, Jacoba M
AU - Smit, Marenka
AU - Klooster, Jesper
AU - de Koning-Tijssen, Marina. A. J.
AU - Gerritsen, Marleen
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of International Neuropsychological Society.
PY - 2024/6
Y1 - 2024/6
N2 - Objective: Cervical dystonia (CD) is a movement disorder characterized by involuntary muscle contractions causing sustained twisting movements and abnormal postures of the neck and head. Assumed affected neuronal regions are the cortico-striatal-thalamo-cortical circuits, which are also involved in cognitive functioning. Indeed, impairments in different cognitive domains have been found in CD patients. However, to date studies have only investigated a limited range of cognitive functions within the same sample. In particular, social cognition (SC) is often missing from study designs. Hence, we aimed to evaluate a broad range of cognitive functions including SC in CD patients.Method: In the present study 20 idiopathic CD patients and 40 age-, gender-, and IQ-matched healthy controls (HCs) were assessed with tests for non-SC (verbal memory, psychomotor speed, and executive functions) as well as for SC (emotion recognition, Theory of Mind (ToM), and empathy).Results: CD patients scored on average significantly lower than HC on tests for non-SC, but did not show impairments on any of the tests for SC.Conclusions: The current study showed impairments in non-SC in CD, but intact social cognitive functions. These results underline the importance of recognizing non-motor symptoms in idiopathic CD patients, but emphasize a focus on identifying strengths and weaknesses in cognitive functioning as these influence daily life activities.
AB - Objective: Cervical dystonia (CD) is a movement disorder characterized by involuntary muscle contractions causing sustained twisting movements and abnormal postures of the neck and head. Assumed affected neuronal regions are the cortico-striatal-thalamo-cortical circuits, which are also involved in cognitive functioning. Indeed, impairments in different cognitive domains have been found in CD patients. However, to date studies have only investigated a limited range of cognitive functions within the same sample. In particular, social cognition (SC) is often missing from study designs. Hence, we aimed to evaluate a broad range of cognitive functions including SC in CD patients.Method: In the present study 20 idiopathic CD patients and 40 age-, gender-, and IQ-matched healthy controls (HCs) were assessed with tests for non-SC (verbal memory, psychomotor speed, and executive functions) as well as for SC (emotion recognition, Theory of Mind (ToM), and empathy).Results: CD patients scored on average significantly lower than HC on tests for non-SC, but did not show impairments on any of the tests for SC.Conclusions: The current study showed impairments in non-SC in CD, but intact social cognitive functions. These results underline the importance of recognizing non-motor symptoms in idiopathic CD patients, but emphasize a focus on identifying strengths and weaknesses in cognitive functioning as these influence daily life activities.
KW - executive functions
KW - memory
KW - movement disorders
KW - neuropsychology
KW - psychomotor speed
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85182624576&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S1355617723011426
DO - 10.1017/S1355617723011426
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85182624576
SN - 1355-6177
VL - 30
SP - 464
EP - 470
JO - Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
JF - Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
IS - 5
ER -