Ziccardi Stefano, Pitteri Marco, Genova Helen M, Calabrese Massimiliano
Neurology Section, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, 37134 Verona, Italy.
Kessler Foundation, 120 Eagle'Rock Ave, Suite 100, East Hanover, NJ 07936, USA.
Diagnostics (Basel). 2021 Mar 9;11(3):484. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics11030484.
Social cognition (SC) has become a topic of widespread interest in the last decade. SC deficits were described in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, in association with amygdala lesions, even in those without formal cognitive impairment. In this 3-year follow-up study, we aimed at longitudinally investigating the evolution of SC deficits and amygdala damage in a group of cognitive-normal MS patients, and the association between SC and psychological well-being. After 3 years (T3) from the baseline examination (T0), 26 relapsing-remitting MS patients (RRMS) were retested with a neuropsychological battery and SC tasks (theory of mind, facial emotion recognition, empathy). A SC composite score (SCcomp) was calculated for each patient. Emotional state, fatigue, and quality of life (QoL) were also evaluated. RRMS patients at T3 underwent a 3T-MRI as performed at T0, from which were calculated both volume and cortical lesion volume (CLV) of the amygdalae. Compared to T0, at T3 all RRMS patients were still cognitive-normal and remained stable in their global SC impaired performance. At T0, SCcomp correlated with amygdala CLV ( = 0.002) while, at T3, was more associated with amygdala volume ( = 0.035) rather than amygdala CLV ( = 0.043). SCcomp change T3-T0 correlated with global emotional state ( = 0.043), depression ( = 0.046), anxiety ( = 0.034), fatigue ( = 0.025), and QoL-social functioning ( = 0.033). We showed the longitudinal stability of SC deficits in cognitive-normal RRMS patients, mirroring the amygdala structural damage and the psychological well-being. These results highlight that SC exerts a key role in MS.
在过去十年中，社会认知（SC）已成为一个广泛关注的话题。多发性硬化症（MS）患者存在社会认知缺陷，这与杏仁核病变有关，即使是那些没有正式认知障碍的患者也是如此。在这项为期3年的随访研究中，我们旨在纵向调查一组认知正常的MS患者的社会认知缺陷和杏仁核损伤的演变，以及社会认知与心理健康之间的关联。在基线检查（T0）后的3年（T3），对26例复发缓解型MS患者（RRMS）进行了神经心理测试和社会认知任务（心理理论、面部表情识别、同理心）的重新测试。为每位患者计算了一个社会认知综合评分（SCcomp）。还评估了情绪状态、疲劳和生活质量（QoL）。T3时的RRMS患者接受了与T0时相同的3T磁共振成像（MRI）检查，据此计算杏仁核的体积和皮质病变体积（CLV）。与T0相比，T3时所有RRMS患者仍认知正常，其整体社会认知受损表现保持稳定。在T0时，SCcomp与杏仁核CLV相关（=0.002），而在T3时，它与杏仁核体积的相关性更强（=0.035），而非杏仁核CLV（=0.043）。T3 - T0期间SCcomp的变化与整体情绪状态（=0.043）、抑郁（=0.046）、焦虑（=0.034）、疲劳（=0.025）和QoL - 社会功能（=0.033）相关。我们展示了认知正常的RRMS患者社会认知缺陷的纵向稳定性，反映了杏仁核结构损伤和心理健康状况。这些结果突出表明社会认知在MS中发挥着关键作用。
