Cognitive processing in monozygotic twins discordant for chronic fatigue syndrome.
Twenty-one pairs of monozygotic twins discordant for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and 21 matched healthy control (HC) subjects were assessed with 5 untimed tests and 5 timed tests from the computer-based NeuroCognitive Assessment Battery (R. K. Mahurin, 1993). Random effects regression showed no difference between CFS and healthy twins on any of the cognitive tests. Further, the twin groups did not differ from the HC group on any content-dependent measure. In contrast, both sets of twins performed worse than the HC group on all speed-dependent tests except Finger Tapping. Self-rated fatigue and dysphoric mood were only weakly correlated with cognitive performance. These data point toward a shared genetic trait related to information processing that is manifest in the CFS context. The findings have implications for differentiating genetic and acquired vulnerability in the symptomatic expression of the disorder. ((c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved)
Mahurin
Roderick K
RK
Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-6465, USA. mahurin@u.washington.edu
Claypoole
Keith H
KH
Goldberg
Jack H
JH
Arguelles
Lester
L
Ashton
Suzanne
S
Buchwald
Dedra
D
D000328:Adult; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D003118:Color Perception; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D004200:Diseases in Twins; D015673:Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008128:Logic; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010641:Phenotype; D011340:Problem Solving; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000235:genetics; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic / Q000523:psychology; D014706:Verbal Learning