Cognitive Impairments in Multiple System Atrophy of the Cerebellar Type

• Main Authors: Hyun J. Hong, Sook Keun. Song, Phil Hyu Lee, Young Ho Sohn, Ji E. Lee
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korean Movement Disorders Society 2011-05-01
• Series: Journal of Movement Disorders
• Subjects: Multiple system atrophy
• Online Access: http://e-jmd.org/upload/jmd-4-1-41-7.pdf

Background and Purpose We investigated the cognitive profiles in a large sample of patients with multiple system atrophy-cerebellar ataxia (MSA-C) and compared directly them in patients with clinical diagnosis of probable MSA-C without dementia and control subjects with intact cognition. Methods We prospectively enrolled 26 patients with clinical diagnosis of probable MSA-C. All patients underwent a standardized neuropsychological test of the Seoul Neuropsychological Screening Battery. Results The score of Korean version of the Mini- Mental State Examination was significantly lower in patients with MSA-C (27.2 ± 2.5) than in control subjects (28.9 ± 1.0, p = 0.003). Patients with MSA-C showed a significantly worse performance in visuospatial function, 3 words recall, verbal immediate, delayed and recognition memory, visual delayed memory, phonemic and sementic Controlled Oral Word Association Test, and ideomotor praxis (p < 0.05). Conclusions Patients with MSA-C show more severe and more widespread cognitive dysfunctions than controls. Our results also indicate that cognitive dysfunction in patients with MCA-C is suggestive of disruption of the cerebellocortical circuits.