Problem solving, impulse control and planning in patients with early- and late-stage Huntington ’s disease

< h3 class= " a-plus-plus " > Abstract < /h3 > < p class= " a-plus-plus " > Sub-domains of executive functions, including problems with planning, accuracy, impulsivity, and inhibition, are core features of Huntington ’s disease. It is known that the decline of cognitive function in Huntington’s disease is related to the anatomical progression of pathology in the basal ganglia. However, it remains to be determined whether the severity of executive dysfunction depends on the stage of the disease. To examine th e severity of sub-domains of executive dysfunction in early- and late-stage Huntington’s disease, we studied performance in the Tower of London task of two groups of Huntington’s disease patients (Group 1: early, < em class= " a-plus-plus " > n < /em >  = 23, and Group 2: late stage < em class= " a-plus-plus " > , n < /em >  = 29), as well as a third group of age, education, and IQ matched healthy controls ( < em class= " a-plus-plus " > n < /em >  = 34). During the task, we measured the total number of problems solved, total planning time, and total number of breaks taken. One aspect of executive function indexed by the number of solved problems seems to progress in the course of the disease. Late-stage Huntington’s disease patients scor ed significantly worse than early-stage patients and controls, and early-stage patients scored significantly worse than controls on this measure of accuracy. In contrast, late- and early-stage HD patients did not differ ...

Source: European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience - July 1, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research