Abstract
BackgroundHD is an autosomal dominant, hereditary, and neurodegenerative disease that presents neurological, psychiatric, and cognitive impairment, with visual cognition being one of the affected areas.AimsThis study aims to analyze the visual cognition profile of asymptomatic and symptomatic carriers of Huntington’s disease (HD), compared with healthy controls (HC), and to evaluate the differences between asymptomatic and symptomatic patients with different years of progression of HD.MethodsWe evaluated 99 participants, 51 HD carriers [17 asymptomatic, 13 symptomatic ( < 5 years of evolution), 21 symptomatic ( > 5 years of evolution)] and 48 HC matched by sex and educational level. Motor function was rated with UHDRS scale, the general cognitive status was assessed with MoCA test, and a comprehensive battery of visual cognitive instruments was used. The following visual cognitive domains were assessed: visual memory, visuospatial skills and visuoconstructive abilities. One- way ANOVA and Tukey’s test for post hoc analysis were performed to analyze and compare the cognitive performance between the four groups.ResultsStatistically significant differences were found in the motor function (F(3.1)=14.129; p < .001) and in the general cognitive status (F(6.1)=9.63; p < .001) between groups. Specifically, we found significant differences in visual memory and visuospatial and visuoconstructive abilities between asymptomatic and both symptomatic subgroups of HD patients (p=.058), and also between the two groups of symptomatic patients with different years of evolution of HD (p=.014).ConclusionsFindings suggest that both symptomatic and asymptomatic HD patients present an increased visual cognitive impairment compared to HC. This impairment worsens with HD progression.