R G L Real1, C Herbert2, B Kotchoubey3, C Wessig4, J Volkmann4, A Kübler5. 1. Department of Psychology I, University of Würzburg, 97070 Würzburg, Germany. Electronic address: ruben.real@uni-wuerzburg.de. 2. Institute of Psychology, German Sport University Cologne, 50933 Cologne, Germany. 3. Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, 72074 Tübingen, Germany. 4. Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany. 5. Department of Psychology I, University of Würzburg, 97070 Würzburg, Germany.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Self-regulation models of coping suggest that patients with chronic diseases reporting low quality of life (QoL), an indicator of failed coping efforts, should show facilitated access to disease related words. Here we investigated whether a reduced N400 amplitude within an incongruent, i.e. unpredictable disease-related context would be a correlate of this facilitated access. METHODS: ERPs were recorded in N=18 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and N=20 age-matched healthy controls during reading of sentences, ending either with congruent or incongruent words. Incongruent and congruent words were disease related or disease unrelated. Mean N400 amplitudes were analyzed with mixed models. RESULTS: Generally, incongruent words elicited a more negative N400 amplitude than congruent words in all groups and conditions, i.e. an N400 effect. In patients with high QoL this N400 effect did not differ between disease related and unrelated words. In patients with low QoL, however, the N400 effect was significantly smaller for disease related than for disease unrelated words. In healthy controls N400 amplitudes showed no such interaction between congruence, disease relatedness and QoL. Results remained stable when controlling for disease severity, duration and depression. CONCLUSION: The N400 indicates increased accessibility to disease related information in ALS patients with low QoL. The increased access may imply a constantly activated disease related context which is linked to low QoL. SIGNIFICANCE: N400 modulation by disease related information may serve as a psychophysiological correlate of coping and the patient's QoL.
OBJECTIVE: Self-regulation models of coping suggest that patients with chronic diseases reporting low quality of life (QoL), an indicator of failed coping efforts, should show facilitated access to disease related words. Here we investigated whether a reduced N400 amplitude within an incongruent, i.e. unpredictable disease-related context would be a correlate of this facilitated access. METHODS: ERPs were recorded in N=18 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and N=20 age-matched healthy controls during reading of sentences, ending either with congruent or incongruent words. Incongruent and congruent words were disease related or disease unrelated. Mean N400 amplitudes were analyzed with mixed models. RESULTS: Generally, incongruent words elicited a more negative N400 amplitude than congruent words in all groups and conditions, i.e. an N400 effect. In patients with high QoL this N400 effect did not differ between disease related and unrelated words. In patients with low QoL, however, the N400 effect was significantly smaller for disease related than for disease unrelated words. In healthy controls N400 amplitudes showed no such interaction between congruence, disease relatedness and QoL. Results remained stable when controlling for disease severity, duration and depression. CONCLUSION: The N400 indicates increased accessibility to disease related information in ALSpatients with low QoL. The increased access may imply a constantly activated disease related context which is linked to low QoL. SIGNIFICANCE: N400 modulation by disease related information may serve as a psychophysiological correlate of coping and the patient's QoL.
Authors: Cynthia R Vázquez Medrano; Helena E A Aho-Özhan; Ulrike Weiland; Ingo Uttner; Albert C Ludolph; Dorothée Lulé Journal: J Neurol Date: 2020-07-08 Impact factor: 4.849