• J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Jul 2024

    Disentangling the relationship between social cognition, executive functions and behaviour changes in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

    • Francesca Palumbo, Barbara Iazzolino, Stefano Callegaro, Antonio Canosa, Umberto Manera, Rosario Vasta, Maurizio Grassano, Enrico Matteoni, Sara Cabras, Giorgio Pellegrino, Paolina Salamone, Laura Peotta, Federico Casale, Giuseppe Fuda, Cristina Moglia, Adriano Chio, and Andrea Calvo.
    • "Rita Levi Montalcini" Department of Neuroscience, ALS Centre, University of Turin, Turin, Italy francesca.palumbo@unito.it.
    • J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. 2024 Jul 15; 95 (8): 722729722-729.

    BackgroundSocial cognition (SC) deficits are included in the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-frontotemporal spectrum disorder (ALS-FTDS) revised diagnostic criteria. However, the impact of SC assessment on cognitive classification and the cognitive-behavioural correlates of SC remain unclear. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the impact of SC assessment on ALS-FTDS categorisation and explore the relationship of SC with executive functions (EF) and behaviour changes in a cohort of ALS patients.Methods121 patients and 56 healthy controls from the Turin ALS Centre underwent cognitive/behavioural testing, including the SC subdomains of facial emotion recognition, and cognitive and affective theory of mind (ToM).ResultsPatients performed significantly worse than controls in all SC explored domains, and 45% of patients exhibited a deficit in at least one SC test, dissociated from the presence of EF deficits. In 13% of cases, the SC deficit was isolated and subclinical. SC assessment contributed to the attribution of cognitive impairment in 10% of patients. Through a statistical clustering approach, we found that ToM only partially overlaps with EF while behaviour changes are associated with emotional disorders (anxiety and depression).ConclusionsSC is overall independent of EF in ALS, with ToM only partially associated with specific EF measures, and behaviour changes associated with emotional disorders. The influence of SC on cognitive categorisation and the frequent identification of a subclinical SC impairment have implications in a clinical setting, considering the substantial impact of cognitive impairment on disease burden and therapeutic choices.© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

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