Melchert Sarah, Steiner Oliver L, Kupper Christin, Lochmann Hannah, Wyrobnik Michelle, Klostermann Fabian
Motor and Cognition Group, Department of Neurology, Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt- Universität zu Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin (CBF), 12203, Berlin, Germany.
Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jul 2;15(1):23591. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-08402-7.
Though classified as a movement disorder, essential tremor (ET) goes along with minor cognitive change. This mainly refers to executive functions, thought to be of paramount importance for social cognition, particularly cognitive theory of mind (ToM). Therefore, different ToM and executive tasks were assessed in persons with versus without essential tremor. 21 non-demented patients with essential tremor and 29 healthy controls underwent cognitive screening, different tasks addressing executive functions, and the faux pas recognition test (FPRT) as well as the reading the mind in the eye test (RMET), focusing on cognitive and affective ToM, respectively. Patients performed significantly worse than controls in the verbal fluency and the digit span tests as well as in the FPRT. No significant group differences were identified with respect to RMET performance. The results are compatible with the idea that persons with ET develop subtle cognitive ToM deficits in the context of executive dysfunction. This extends descriptions of the non-motor impact of ET by deficits in social cognition and raises the question whether potential cognitive change of affected patients is sufficiently acknowledged in clinical routine.
虽然特发性震颤（ET）被归类为运动障碍，但它伴随着轻微的认知变化。这主要指的是执行功能，被认为对社会认知至关重要，尤其是认知心理理论（ToM）。因此，对有和没有特发性震颤的人进行了不同的ToM和执行任务评估。21名非痴呆的特发性震颤患者和29名健康对照者接受了认知筛查、针对执行功能的不同任务、失言识别测试（FPRT）以及眼读心测试（RMET），分别侧重于认知和情感ToM。患者在言语流畅性、数字广度测试以及FPRT中的表现明显比对照组差。在RMET表现方面未发现显著的组间差异。这些结果与以下观点一致，即特发性震颤患者在执行功能障碍的背景下会出现细微的认知ToM缺陷。这通过社会认知缺陷扩展了对ET非运动影响的描述，并提出了一个问题，即受影响患者的潜在认知变化在临床常规中是否得到了充分认识。
