Watermeyer Tamlyn J, Brown Richard G, Sidle Katie C L, Oliver David J, Allen Christopher, Karlsson Joanna, Ellis Catherine M, Shaw Christopher E, Al-Chalabi Ammar, Goldstein Laura H
Department of Psychology, Bangor University, Bangor, UK.
J Neurol. 2015 Jul;262(7):1681-90. doi: 10.1007/s00415-015-7761-0. Epub 2015 May 10.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder of the motor system with recognised extra-motor and cognitive involvement. This cross-sectional study examined ALS patients' performance on measures requiring social inference, and determined the relationship between such changes and variations in mood, behaviour, personality, empathy and executive function. Fifty-five ALS patients and 49 healthy controls were compared on tasks measuring social cognition and executive function. ALS patients also completed measures examining mood, behaviour and personality. Regression analyses explored the contribution of executive function, mood, behaviour and personality to social cognition scores within the ALS sample. A between-group MANOVA revealed that, the ALS group was impaired relative to controls on two composite scores for social cognition and executive function. Patients also performed worse on individual tests of executive function measuring cognitive flexibility, response inhibition and concept formation, and on individual aspects of social cognition assessing the attribution of emotional and mental states. Regression analyses indicated that ALS-related executive dysfunction was the main predictor of social cognition performance, above and beyond demographic variables, behaviour, mood and personality. On at least some aspects of social cognition, impaired performance in ALS appears to be secondary to executive dysfunction. The profile of cognitive impairment in ALS supports a cognitive continuum between ALS and frontotemporal dementia.
肌萎缩侧索硬化症（ALS）是一种运动系统的神经退行性疾病，伴有公认的运动外和认知方面的受累情况。这项横断面研究考察了ALS患者在需要社会推理的测量任务上的表现，并确定了这些变化与情绪、行为、个性、同理心和执行功能变化之间的关系。对55名ALS患者和49名健康对照者进行了测量社会认知和执行功能的任务比较。ALS患者还完成了考察情绪、行为和个性的测量。回归分析探讨了执行功能、情绪、行为和个性对ALS样本中社会认知分数的贡献。组间多变量方差分析显示，在社会认知和执行功能的两项综合分数上，ALS组相对于对照组受损。患者在测量认知灵活性、反应抑制和概念形成的执行功能个体测试以及评估情绪和心理状态归因的社会认知个体方面也表现较差。回归分析表明，与ALS相关的执行功能障碍是社会认知表现的主要预测因素，超越了人口统计学变量、行为、情绪和个性。在社会认知的至少某些方面，ALS患者的表现受损似乎继发于执行功能障碍。ALS中的认知障碍特征支持了ALS与额颞叶痴呆之间的认知连续性。
