Related Experiment Videos
Patterns of cognitive change over time and relationship to age following successful treatment of Cushing's disease
Julie N Hook1, Bruno Giordani, David E Schteingart
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Health Systems, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. Julie_Hook@rush.edu
Abstract:
Chronically elevated levels of cortisol have been associated with changes in cognitive functioning and brain morphology. Using Cushing's disease as a model to assess the effects of high levels of cortisol on cognitive functioning, 27 patients with Cushing's disease were examined at baseline and three successive follow-up periods up to 18 months after successful surgical treatment. At all follow-up periods, patients were administered cognitive tests as well as measures of plasma and urinary free cortisol. Structural MRIs and a depression measure were taken at baseline and one-year follow-up. Results showed that there is a specific pattern of significant cognitive and morphological improvement following successful treatment. Verbal fluency and recall showed recovery, although brief attention did not. Age of participants was a significant factor as to when recovery of function occurred; younger patients regained and sustained their improvement in cognitive functioning more quickly than older participants. Improvement in verbal recall also was associated with a decrease in cortisol levels as well as an increase in hippocampal formation volume one year after treatment. Overall, these findings suggest that at least some of the deleterious effects of prolonged hypercortisolemia on cognitive functioning are potentially reversible, up to at least 18 months post treatment.
Related Concept Videos
Cushing Syndrome I: Introduction
Cushing Syndrome II: Pathophysiology
Cognitive Development During Adulthood
Cognitive Therapy
Classification of Illness
An illness is a response to a disease in which the person's level of functioning is changed compared with a previous level. The general classification of illness includes acute and chronic.
Acute illness is severe and...
Adrenal Gland Disorders
Adrenal insufficiency, characterized by insufficient cortisol and aldosterone production, leads to conditions like Addison's disease. This disorder, affecting the adrenal cortex, exhibits symptoms such as skin bronzing, dehydration, low blood pressure, fatigue, and weight loss. Congenital adrenal hyperplasia, a genetic ailment causing...