Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 23, 2025
Eye-Tracking Control to Assess Cognitive Functions in Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Published on: October 13, 2016
Screening of visuospatial abilities in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS): a pilot study using the battery for
Minoo Sharbafshaaer1, Mattia Siciliano1,2,3,4, Carla Passaniti2
1Department of Advanced Medical and Surgical Sciences, MRI Research Center, Università degli Studi della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Naples, Italy.
Background:
Cognitive deficits related to frontotemporal dysfunction are common in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Visuospatial deficits, related to posterior cerebral regions, are often underestimated in ALS, though they play a crucial role in attending daily living activities. Our pilot study aims at assessing visuospatial abilities using a domain-specific tool in ALS patients compared to healthy controls (HC).
Methods:
Twenty-three patients with early ALS and 23 age- and education-matched HC underwent the Battery for Visuospatial Abilities (BVA), including 4 visuo-perceptual and 4 visuo-representational subtests.
Results:
When compared to HC, ALS scored worse in 2 visuo-perceptual subtests (i.e., Line Length Judgment and Line Orientation Judgment) and 1 visuo-representational tasks (i.e., Hidden Figure Identification, HFI) (p < 0.01). No correlations arose between ALS clinical features and BVA performance. More than 80% of the ALS cohort obtained abnormal scores in the HFI subtest.
Conclusions:
Our findings revealed that patients with ALS scored worse (compared to HC) on selective tests tapping "perceptual" and "representational" visuospatial abilities, since the early stages of disease. In clinical practice, our findings highlight the need for multi-domain neuropsychological assessment, for monitoring disease courses and properly organizing care management of patients with ALS.
