Apathy predicts rate of cognitive decline over 24 months in premanifest Huntington's disease

S C Andrews; D R Langbehn; D Craufurd; A Durr; B R Leavitt; R A Roos; S J Tabrizi; J C Stout

doi:10.1017/S0033291720000094

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Apathy predicts rate of cognitive decline over 24 months in premanifest Huntington's disease

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Apathy predicts rate of cognitive decline over 24 months in premanifest Huntington's disease

S C Andrews, D R Langbehn, D Craufurd, A Durr, B R Leavitt, R A Roos, S J Tabrizi and J C Stout

Psychological medicine, Vol.51(8), pp.1338 -1344

02/17/2020

DOI: 10.1017/S0033291720000094

PMID: 32063235

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Abstract

Cognitive impairment is a core feature of Huntington's disease (HD), however, the onset and rate of cognitive decline is highly variable. Apathy is the most common neuropsychiatric symptom of HD, and is associated with cognitive impairment. The aim of this study was to investigate apathy as a predictor of subsequent cognitive decline over 2 years in premanifest and early HD, using a prospective, longitudinal design. A total of 118 premanifest HD gene carriers, 111 early HD and 118 healthy control participants from the multi-centre TRACK-HD study were included. Apathy symptoms were assessed at baseline using the apathy severity rating from the Short Problem Behaviours Assessment. A composite of 12 outcome measures from nine cognitive tasks was used to assess cognitive function at baseline and after 24 months. In the premanifest group, after controlling for age, depression and motor signs, more apathy symptoms predicted faster cognitive decline over 2 years. In contrast, in the early HD group, more motor signs, but not apathy, predicted faster subsequent cognitive decline. In the control group, only older age predicted cognitive decline. Our findings indicate that in premanifest HD, apathy is a harbinger for cognitive decline. In contrast, after motor onset, in early diagnosed HD, motor symptom severity more strongly predicts the rate of cognitive decline.

Apathy

depression

cognition

Huntington's disease

Details

Title: Subtitle: Apathy predicts rate of cognitive decline over 24 months in premanifest Huntington's disease
Creators: S C Andrews - School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
D R Langbehn - Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA
D Craufurd - St. Mary's Hospital, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, UK
A Durr - Sorbonne Université, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière (ICM), University Hospital Pitié-Salpêtrière, AP-HP, Inserm U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Paris, France
B R Leavitt - Department of Medical Genetics, Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, BC Children's Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
R A Roos - Department Neurology LUMC, Universiteit Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands
S J Tabrizi - Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, University College London, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, and National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK
J C Stout - School of Psychological Sciences and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Psychological medicine, Vol.51(8), pp.1338 -1344
DOI: 10.1017/S0033291720000094
PMID: 32063235
NLM abbreviation: Psychol Med
ISSN: 0033-2917
eISSN: 1469-8978
Publisher: England
Language: English
Date published: 02/17/2020
Academic Unit: Psychiatry; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
Record Identifier: 9984066137802771

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