Abstract
The relationship between neuropsychological impairments and changes in cranial MR images was investigated in a group of 74 consecutive patients with the sporadic form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Neuropsychological tests included measures of frontal lobe function, memory, intelligence, and attention. Compared with a control group, a significant impairment of the ALS group emerged for the areas of visual attention, inhibition of response alternatives, visual memory, and word generation. These neuropsychological impairments did not show a relation to clinical status of the patients. Likewise, MR parameters derived by computer assisted planimetric analysis showed a ventricular enlargement and parenchymal atrophy in the ALS group compared with age-matched controls. When ALS patients were assigned to two subgroups differing on the basis of the neuropsychological tests by cluster-analysis the cluster with the significant impairment also showed a pronounced change for the MR-parameters while the subgroup showed essentially normal neuropsychological performance. This pattern suggests that subgroups of ALS with differential impairment of neuropsycholigcal functions can be defined.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery |
| Volume | 99 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Pages (from-to) | 79-86 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| ISSN | 0303-8467 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 01.01.1997 |
Funding
Writing of this paperw as supportedb y a granto f the Hermann and Lilly Schilling Foundation to TFM (TS 013/l7 7/1996).T FM also would like to thank Dr Marta Kutas of the Departmento f Cognitive Science, University of California San Diego, for her support.
Research Areas and Centers
- Academic Focus: Center for Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM)
