title: Selective attentional deficit in essential tremor: Evidence from the attention network test.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The traditional view of essential tremor (ET) as a monosymptomatic and benign disorder has been reconsidered after patients with ET have been shown to experience cognitive deficits that are also related to attention. The Attention Network Test (ANT) is a rapid, widely used test to measure the efficiency of three attentional networks, i.e. alerting, orienting and executive, by evaluating reaction times (RTs) in response to visual stimuli. The aim of this study was to investigate attentional functioning in ET patients by means of the ANT.
  
  
  METHODS
  21 non-demented patients with ET and 21 age- and sex-matched healthy controls performed the ANT.
  
  
  RESULTS
  RT was significantly longer in ET patients than in controls (p < 0.001). Moreover, a significant difference in alerting and executive efficiency (p = 0.003 and p = 0.01 respectively) was found between groups, while the difference in the orienting efficiency only bordered on significance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results point to a difficulty in the alerting and executive domains of attention in ET patients, probably owing to a dysfunction in the cerebello-thalamo-cortical loop. These selective attentional deficits are not related to clinical motor symptoms, contributing to shed further light on the clinical picture of ET.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale dell'Università 30, 00185, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: caterina.pauletti@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pauletti
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale dell'Università 30, 00185, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: daniela.mannarelli@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mannarelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale dell'Università 30, 00185, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: marica.delucia@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Maria Caterina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: De Lucia
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale dell'Università 30, 00185, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: nicoletta.locuratolo@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Nicoletta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Locuratolo
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical-Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, A. Fiorini Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, Polo Pontino, Via Firenze, 04019, Terracina, LT, Italy. Electronic address: antonio.curra@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Currà
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Neurosurgery, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale dell'Università 30, 00185, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: missorp@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Missori
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neurology, Department of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DiNOGMI), Largo Daneo 3, University of Genova, 16132, Genova, Italy. Electronic address: lucio.marinelli@unige.it.
authors.forename: Lucio
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marinelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale dell'Università 30, 00185, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: francesco.fattapposta@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fattapposta
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D020329:Essential Tremor / Q000503:physiopathology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: ANT; Alerting; Attention; Essential tremor; Reaction time