Objectives: Up to 50% of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) present with cognitive problems and behavioral dysfunctions including recognition of human faces presenting different emotions. We investigated whether impaired processing of emotional faces is associated with abnormal scan paths during visual exploration.
Methods: Cognitively unimpaired patients with ALS (n = 45) and matched healthy controls (n = 37) underwent neuropsychological assessment and video-based eye tracking. Eye movements were recorded while participants visually explored faces expressing different emotions (neutral, disgusted, happy, fearful, and sad) and houses mimicking faces.
Results: Compared with controls, patients with ALS fixated significantly longer to regions which are not relevant for emotional information when faces expressed fear ( = 0.007) and disgust ( = 0.006), whereas the eyes received less attention in faces expressing disgust ( = 0.041). Fixation duration in any area of interest was not significantly associated with the cognitive state or clinical symptoms of disease severity.
Discussion: In cognitively unimpaired patients with ALS, altered gaze patterns while visually exploring faces expressing different emotions might derive from impaired top-down attentional control with possible involvement of subliminal frontotemporal areas. This may account for indistinctness in emotion recognition reported in previous studies because nonsalient features retrieve more attention compared with salient areas. Current findings may indicate distinct emotion processing dysfunction of ALS pathology, which may be different from, for example, executive dysfunction.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000207214 | DOI Listing |
Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry
December 2024
Department of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Bethesda Children's Hospital, Budapest, Hungary.
Tourette syndrome and other tic disorders are prevalent neurodevelopmental disorders typically treated with behavioral techniques or pharmacological interventions, primarily antipsychotics. However, many patients do not achieve sufficient response to conventional treatments, underscoring the need for further research in this area. To provide a comprehensive overview of ongoing research activities, we systematically searched the clinical registries of the World Health Organization (WHO) and of the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) for currently planned or ongoing registered clinical studies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmyotroph Lateral Scler Frontotemporal Degener
December 2024
Department of Neurology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
ALSUntangled reviews alternate and off-label treatments prompted by patient interest. Here, we review psilocybin, a chemical derived from mushrooms and belonging in the category of drugs known as psychedelics. Psilocybin has plausible mechanisms for slowing ALS progression because of its ability to cross the blood brain barrier and effect neurogenesis and inflammation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSemin Respir Crit Care Med
December 2024
Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Neuromuscular disorders can cause respiratory impairment by affecting the muscle fibers, neuromuscular junction, or innervation of respiratory muscles, leading to significant morbidity and mortality. Over the past few years, new disease-modifying therapies have been developed and made available for treating different neuromuscular disorders. Some of these therapies have remarkable effectiveness, resulting in the prevention and reduction of respiratory complications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Neuroeng Rehabil
December 2024
Neurological Clinical Research Institute and Sean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS, Boston, MA, USA.
Background: Wearable technology offers objective and remote quantification of disease progression in neurological diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Large population studies are needed to determine generalization and reproducibility of findings from pilot studies.
Methods: A large cohort of patients with ALS (N = 202) wore wearable accelerometers on their dominant and non-dominant wrists for a week every two to four weeks and self-entered the ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-RSE) in similar time intervals.
J Pain Symptom Manage
December 2024
Center for Health Outcomes and Interdisciplinary Research, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
Context: A diagnosis of ALS can be challenging, and many people find ways to adapt. At the same time, emotional distress can arise early after an ALS diagnosis even when high quality multidisciplinary care is provided. When emotional distress occurs, it can become chronic over time, and can affect both the person living with ALS and their care-partner (together called a dyad).
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