BACKGROUND: The assessment of early and subtle cognitive and behavioral effects of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) requires specific and long-lasting evaluations performed by experienced neuropsychologists. Simpler tools would be helpful for daily clinical practice. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a simple reaction time task that lasts 5 minutes and can be performed without external supervision on any tablet or laptop can be used as a proxy of early cognitive and behavioral alterations in CADASIL (Cerebral Autosomal Dominant Arteriopathy with Subcortical Infarcts and Leukoencephalopathy), a monogenic form of pure SVD related to NOTCH3 mutations. METHODS: Twenty-two genetically confirmed patients with CADASIL having preserved global cognitive abilities and without disability (MMSE >24 and modified Rankin's scale ≤1) were compared to 29 age-and-gender matched controls to determine group differences according to: 1) conventional neuropsychological and behavioral testing; 2) a computerized battery evaluating reaction time, processing speed, and executive functions. In a second step, correlations between reaction time and cognitive and behavioral alterations detected using both conventional and computerized testing were tested in patients. RESULTS: Reaction time was significantly higher in patients than in controls (mean in patients: 283 ms - in controls: 254 ms, p = 0.03). In patients, reaction time was significantly associated with conventional and chronometric tests of executive functions, working memory, and apathy. CONCLUSION: Reaction time obtained using a very simple task may serve as a proxy of early cognitive and behavioral alterations in SVD and could be easily used in daily clinical practice.
BACKGROUND: The assessment of early and subtle cognitive and behavioral effects of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) requires specific and long-lasting evaluations performed by experienced neuropsychologists. Simpler tools would be helpful for daily clinical practice. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a simple reaction time task that lasts 5 minutes and can be performed without external supervision on any tablet or laptop can be used as a proxy of early cognitive and behavioral alterations in CADASIL (Cerebral Autosomal Dominant Arteriopathy with Subcortical Infarcts and Leukoencephalopathy), a monogenic form of pure SVD related to NOTCH3 mutations. METHODS: Twenty-two genetically confirmed patients with CADASIL having preserved global cognitive abilities and without disability (MMSE >24 and modified Rankin's scale ≤1) were compared to 29 age-and-gender matched controls to determine group differences according to: 1) conventional neuropsychological and behavioral testing; 2) a computerized battery evaluating reaction time, processing speed, and executive functions. In a second step, correlations between reaction time and cognitive and behavioral alterations detected using both conventional and computerized testing were tested in patients. RESULTS: Reaction time was significantly higher in patients than in controls (mean in patients: 283 ms - in controls: 254 ms, p = 0.03). In patients, reaction time was significantly associated with conventional and chronometric tests of executive functions, working memory, and apathy. CONCLUSION: Reaction time obtained using a very simple task may serve as a proxy of early cognitive and behavioral alterations in SVD and could be easily used in daily clinical practice.
Entities:
Keywords:
Apathy; CADASIL; cerebral small vessel disease; cognitive impairment; processing speed; reaction time
Authors: Maria-Eleni Dounavi; Audrey Low; Graciela Muniz-Terrera; Karen Ritchie; Craig W Ritchie; Li Su; Hugh S Markus; John T O'Brien Journal: Brain Commun Date: 2022-05-05
Authors: Eric Jouvent; Edouard Duchesnay; Foued Hadj-Selem; François De Guio; Jean-François Mangin; Dominique Hervé; Marco Duering; Stefan Ropele; Reinhold Schmidt; Martin Dichgans; Hugues Chabriat Journal: Neurology Date: 2016-09-30 Impact factor: 9.910
Authors: Ilaria Di Donato; Silvia Bianchi; Nicola De Stefano; Martin Dichgans; Maria Teresa Dotti; Marco Duering; Eric Jouvent; Amos D Korczyn; Saskia A J Lesnik-Oberstein; Alessandro Malandrini; Hugh S Markus; Leonardo Pantoni; Silvana Penco; Alessandra Rufa; Osman Sinanović; Dragan Stojanov; Antonio Federico Journal: BMC Med Date: 2017-02-24 Impact factor: 8.775
Authors: Annemieke Ter Telgte; Kim Wiegertjes; Anil M Tuladhar; Marlies P Noz; José P Marques; Benno Gesierich; Mathias Huebner; Henk-Jan Mm Mutsaerts; Suzette E Elias-Smale; Marie-José Beelen; Stefan Ropele; Roy Pc Kessels; Niels P Riksen; Catharina Jm Klijn; David G Norris; Marco Duering; Frank-Erik de Leeuw Journal: Eur Stroke J Date: 2018-05-09