RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Cluster headache (CH) is a trigeminal autonomic cephalalgia (TAC) characterized by a highly disabling headache that negatively impacts quality of life and causes limitations in daily functioning as well as social functioning and family life. Since specific measures to assess the quality of life (QoL) in TACs are lacking, we recently developed and validated the cluster headache quality of life scale (CH-QoL). The sensitivity of CH-QoL to change after a medical intervention has not been evaluated yet. METHODS: This study aimed to test the sensitivity to change of the CH-QoL in CH. Specifically we aimed to (i) assess the sensitivity of CH-QoL to change before and following deep brain stimulation of the ventral tegmental area (VTA-DBS), (ii) evaluate the relationship of changes on CH-QoL with changes in other generic measures of quality of life, as well as indices of mood and pain. Ten consecutive CH patients completed the CH-QoL and underwent neuropsychological assessment before and after VTA-DBS. The patients were evaluated on headache frequency, severity, and load (HAL) as well as on tests of generic quality of life (Short Form-36 (SF-36)), mood (Beck Depression Inventory, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Rating Scale), and pain (McGill Pain Questionnaire, Headache Impact Test, Pain Behaviour Checklist). RESULTS: The CH-QoL total score was significantly reduced after compared to before VTA-DBS. Changes in the CH-QoL total score correlated significantly and negatively with changes in HAL, the SF-36, and positively and significantly with depression and the evaluative domain on the McGill Pain Questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate that changes after VTA-DBS in CH-QoL total scores are associated with the reduction of frequency, duration, and severity of headache attacks after surgery. Moreover, post VTA-DBS improvement in CH-QoL scores is associated with an amelioration in quality of life assessed with generic measures, a reduction of depressive symptoms, and evaluative pain experience after VTA-DBS. These results support the sensitivity to change of the CH-QoL and further demonstrate the validity and applicability of CH-QoL as a disease specific measure of quality of life for CH.
Asunto(s)
Cefalalgia Histamínica , Estimulación Encefálica Profunda , Cefalalgia Histamínica/terapia , Humanos , Dolor , Calidad de Vida , Área Tegmental VentralRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Deep brain stimulation in the ventral tegmental area (VTA-DBS) has provided remarkable therapeutic benefits in decreasing headache frequency and severity in patients with medically refractory chronic cluster headache (CH). However, to date the effects of VTA-DBS on cognition, mood and quality of life have not been examined in detail. METHODS: The aim of the present study was to do so in a case series of 18 consecutive patients with cluster headache who underwent implantation of deep brain stimulation electrodes in the ventral tegmental area. The patients were evaluated preoperatively and after a mean of 14 months of VTA-DBS on tests of global cognition (Mini Mental State Examination), intelligence (Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence), verbal memory (California Verbal Learning Test-II), executive function (Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System), and attention (Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test). Depression (Beck Depression Inventory and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Rating Scale-D), anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Rating Scale-A), apathy (Starkstein Apathy Scale), and hopelessness (Beck Hopelessness Scale) were also assessed. Subjective pain experience (McGill Pain Questionnaire), behaviour (Pain Behaviour Checklist) and quality of life (Short Form-36) were also evaluated at the same time points. RESULTS: VTA-DBS resulted in significant improvement of headache frequency (from a mean of five to two attacks daily, p < .001) and severity (from mean Verbal Rating Scale [VRS] of 10 to 7, p < .001) which was associated with significant reduction of anxiety (from mean HADS-A of 11.94 to 8.00, p < .001) and help-seeking behaviours (from mean PBC of 4.00 to 2.61, p < .001). VTA-DBS did not produce any significant change to any tests of cognitive function and any other outcome measures (BDI, HADS-D, SAS, BHS, McGill Pain Questionnaire, Short Form-36). CONCLUSION: We confirm the efficacy of VTA-DBS in the treatment of medically refractory chronic cluster headache. The reduction of headache frequency and severity was associated with a significant reduction of anxiety. Furthermore, the result suggests that VTA-DBS for chronic cluster headache improves pain-related help-seeking behaviours and does not produce any change in cognition.
Asunto(s)
Cefalalgia Histamínica/terapia , Estimulación Encefálica Profunda/métodos , Resultado del Tratamiento , Adulto , Afecto , Anciano , Cognición , Femenino , Conducta de Búsqueda de Ayuda , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Dolor , Calidad de Vida , Área Tegmental Ventral/fisiologíaRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Mental rotation of body parts engages cortical-subcortical areas that are actually involved in the execution of a movement. Musicians' dystonia is a type of focal hand dystonia that is grouped together with writer's cramp under the rubric of "occupational dystonia", but it is unclear to which extent these two disorders share common pathophysiological mechanisms. Previous research has demonstrated patients with writer's cramp to have deficits in mental rotation of body parts. It is unknown whether patients with musicians' dystonia would display similar deficits, reinforcing the concept of shared pathophysiology. METHODS: Eight patients with musicians' dystonia and eight healthy musicians matched for age, gender and musical education, performed a number of tasks assessing mental rotation of body parts and objects as well as verbal and spatial working memories abilities. RESULTS: There were no differences between patients and healthy musicians as to accuracy and reaction times in any of the tasks. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with musicians' dystonia have intact abilities in mentally rotating body parts, suggesting that this disorder relies on a highly selective disruption of movement planning and execution that manifests only upon playing a specific instrument. We further demonstrated that mental rotation of body parts and objects engages, at least partially, different cognitive networks.
Asunto(s)
Trastornos Distónicos/fisiopatología , Mano/fisiopatología , Música , Desempeño Psicomotor/fisiología , Percepción Espacial/fisiología , Adulto , Femenino , Cuerpo Humano , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , RotaciónRESUMEN
Studies examining decision-making in people with Parkinson's disease (PD) show impaired performance on a variety of tasks. However, there are also demonstrations that patients with PD can make optimal decisions just like healthy age-matched controls. We propose that the reason for these mixed findings is that PD does not produce a generalized impairment of decision-making, but rather affects sub-components of this process. In this review we evaluate this hypothesis by considering the empirical evidence examining decision-making in PD. We suggest that of the various stages of the decision-making process, the most affected in PD are (1) the cost-benefit analysis stage and (2) the outcome evaluation stage. We consider the implications of this proposal for research in this area.
Asunto(s)
Trastornos del Conocimiento/fisiopatología , Toma de Decisiones/fisiología , Enfermedad de Parkinson/fisiopatología , Asunción de Riesgos , Trastornos del Conocimiento/etiología , Retroalimentación Psicológica , Humanos , Pruebas Neuropsicológicas , Enfermedad de Parkinson/complicacionesRESUMEN
In the present study we address the following questions: (1) How is performance affected when patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD) perform a dynamic decision making task? (2) Does dopaminergic medication differentially affect dynamic decision making? To address these questions participants were trained with different goals during learning: either they made intervention-based decisions or prediction-based decisions during learning. The findings show that overall there is an advantage for those trained to intervene over those trained to predict. In addition, the results are the first demonstration that PD patients 'ON' (N=20) compared to 'OFF' L-Dopa (N=15) medication and also relative to healthy age matched controls (N=16) showed lower levels of relative improvement in the accuracy of their decisions in a dynamic decision making task, and tended to use sub-optimal strategies. These findings provide support for the 'Dopamine Overdose' hypothesis using a novel decision making task, and suggest that executive functions such as decision making can be adversely affected by dopaminergic medication in PD.
Asunto(s)
Toma de Decisiones/efectos de los fármacos , Dopaminérgicos/farmacología , Levodopa/farmacología , Enfermedad de Parkinson/tratamiento farmacológico , Anciano , Señales (Psicología) , Dopaminérgicos/uso terapéutico , Femenino , Objetivos , Humanos , Aprendizaje/efectos de los fármacos , Levodopa/uso terapéutico , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Pruebas Neuropsicológicas , Análisis y Desempeño de TareasRESUMEN
Parkinson's disease (PD) is associated with motor and cognitive impairment caused by dopamine dysregulation in the basal ganglia. Amongst a host of cognitive deficits, evidence suggests that decision-making is impaired in patients with PD, but the exact scope of this impairment is still unclear. The aim of this review was to establish which experimental manipulations commonly associated with studies involving decision-making tasks were most likely to generate impairments in performance in PD patients. This allowed us to address the question of the exact scope of the decision-making deficits in PD and to hypothesize about the role of the basal ganglia in decision-making processes. We conducted a meta-analysis of available literature, which revealed that the two key predictors of impairment in PD were the feedback structure of the decision-making task and the medication status of patients while performing the tasks. Rather than a global impairment in decision-making ability, these findings suggest that deficiencies in choice-behaviour in patients with PD stem from dysfunctions at the outcome evaluation stage of the decision-making process.