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Cognitive functions and corticostriatal circuits: insights from Huntington's disease
A D Lawrence1, B J Sahakian, T W Robbins
1MRC Cyclotron Unit/Departments of Sensorimotor Systems and Psychiatry, Division of Neuroscience and Psychological Medicine, Imperial College School of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Road, London, UK W12 0NN.
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
|January 14, 2011
Summary
Huntington's disease patients show cognitive decline due to corticostriatal circuit dysfunction. This breakdown in response selection offers insights into normal brain function and disease progression.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Genetics
Background:
- Corticostriatal circuits are crucial for information processing, but their exact mechanisms are debated.
- Huntington's disease, a neurogenetic disorder, involves neuronal loss in these circuits, making it a model for studying circuit function and dysfunction.
- The disease presents with motor, cognitive, and affective disturbances.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review findings on cognitive breakdown in Huntington's disease, focusing on executive functions and visual recognition memory.
- To understand the role of corticostriatal circuits in normal behavior and their disruption in Huntington's disease.
- To investigate the progression of neuropsychological deficits in Huntington's disease.
Main Methods:
- Review of studies on Huntington's disease patients.
- Neuropsychological assessment focusing on executive functions and visual recognition memory.
- Comparison of patient profiles with computational models of corticostriatal function.
Main Results:
- Huntington's disease patients exhibit a progressive neuropsychological profile.
- The observed cognitive deficits appear to stem from a breakdown in response selection mechanisms.
- Findings align with computational models suggesting corticostriatal circuits process behaviorally relevant sensory-response patterns.
Conclusions:
- Corticostriatal circuit dysfunction underlies cognitive deficits in Huntington's disease.
- Response selection is a key mechanism disrupted in the disease.
- Huntington's disease provides a valuable model for understanding corticostriatal circuit function in health and disease.
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