Huntington Study Group Abstracts 2020
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ABSTRACTS
Huntington Study Group Abstracts 2020
# The American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics, Inc. 2020
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clinicians to tailor rehabilitation protocols to improve outcomes in persons with HD.
Motor Performance Provides Insights into Cognition and Pain in Persons with Huntington’s Disease 2 Erin Edwards, Nora Fritz* Leslie Dunnington*, Erin Furr Stimming, Amber McCarthy, Jorge Patino-Murillas, Chloe Denham Background: Huntington’s disease (HD) results in motor, cognitive, and psychosocial impairments. Little is known about the specific relationships among cognitive, psychosocial, and simple and complex motor task performance. Objective: The objective of this pilot study was to explore performance on motor, cognitive, and behavioral measures between individuals with HD and healthy controls, and to determine the relationships among specific domains of cognitive function and motor function and pain. Methods: Individuals with HD and healthy controls performed a battery of cognitive, motor, and survey measures (i.e., fall reports, quality of life, and pain) in a single session. We examined differences between individuals with HD and controls, as well as relationships among motor, cognitive, and survey measures. Results: Four individuals with HD (mean(SD) age: 62.5(14.5); symptom duration: 5.8(7.1); 1 female) and six healthy controls (age: 50.7(9.7); 6 females) completed this study. There was no significant difference between groups for age, gender, or years of education. As expected, individuals with HD performed significantly worse on motor and cognitive testing, as evidenced by slower walking (p = 0.019), poorer lower extremity coordination (p = 0.038), poorer working memory (p = 0.010), and worse pain severity (p = 0.010). Poorer working memory was significantly related to poorer performance timed walking (r = − 0.705; p = 0.023); lower extremity coordination (r = − 0.657; p = 0.039); and dual-tasks (r = − 0.760; p = 0.011), as well as reports of more falls (r = − 0.709; p = 0.022). Poorer cognitive processing speed was specifically related to worse dual-task performance (r = − 0.733; p = 0.016). Worse pain severity was significantly related to slower timed walking (r = 0.679; p = 0.031); poorer lower extremity coordination (r = 0.743; p = 0.014); and worse dual-task performance (r = 0.731; p = 0.016), as well as poorer working memory (r > − 0.811; p < 0.004) and reports of more falls (r = 0.713; p = 0.021). Conclusions: Individuals with HD experience declines in motor and cognitive performance, as well as increased pain, compared to healthy controls. Quick and easily administered motor tests, such as timed walking and lower extremity coordination, as well as surveys to assess pain, may be useful in determining underlying cognitive impairments in working memory and processing speed. Assessment of these factors may help
Predictive Genetic Testing for Huntington’s Disease During the COVID-19 Pandemic Leslie Dunnington*, Erin Furr Stimming, Amber McCarthy, Jorge Patino-Murillas, Chloe Denham University
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