title: Neuropsychological deficits in Huntington's disease gene carriers and correlates of early "conversion".
abstract: The authors examined whether the baseline cognitive functioning of 21 clinically normal huntingtin mutation carriers who developed manifest Huntington's disease on follow-up differed from that of 49 mutation carriers who remain asymptomatic over the same period in a longitudinal study. One hundred thirty-four gene-negative offspring of Huntington's disease patients were studied as well. Overall, there were no differences in cognitive test performance among the three groups. However, "converters" who developed signs of Huntington's disease within 8.6 years demonstrated poorer performance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test at baseline. People with the Huntington's disease mutation who are carefully examined neurologically and found to be asymptomatic have, at most, very minimal problem-solving impairment, and only if they are within a few years of clinical onset.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. jbrandt@jhmi.edu
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brandt
authors.forename: Anjeli B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Inscore
authors.forename: Julianna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.forename: Barnett
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shpritz
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rosenblatt
authors.forename: Russell L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Margolis
authors.forename: Christopher A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Ross
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006579:Heterozygote; D006801:Humans; D000071058:Huntingtin Protein; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: C086055:HTT protein, human; D000071058:Huntingtin Protein; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D004247:DNA