Frontotemporal-spectrum disorders and functional independence in non-demented ALS patients.

BACKGROUND: The present study aimed at determining whether, net of motor confounders, neuropsychological features affect functional independence (FI) in activities of daily living (ADLs) in non-demented amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. METHODS: N = 88 ALS patients without frontotemporal dementia were assessed for FI-Katz's Basic ADL Scale (BADL) and Lawton-Brody's Instrumental ADL Scale (IADL)-, cognition-Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS)-and behaviour-Beaumont Behavioural Inventory and Dimensional Apathy Scale. The association between cognitive and behavioural measures and BADL/IADL scores was assessed by covarying for demographics, anxiety and depression levels, disease duration and motor confounders-i.e. ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R) scores, progression rate and both King's and Milano-Torino stages. RESULTS: Higher scores on the ECAS-Language were associated with higher IADL scores (p = 0.005), whilst higher apathetic features-as measured by the Dimensional Apathy Scale (DAS)-were inversely related to the BADL (p = 0.003). Whilst IADL scores were related to all ECAS-Language tasks, the DAS-Initiation was the only subscale associated with BADL scores. Patients with abnormal ECAS-Language (p = 0.023) and DAS (p = 0.008) scores were more functionally dependent than those without. DISCUSSION: Among non-motor features, language changes and apathetic features detrimentally affect FI in non-demented ALS patients.

Ecological validity of performance-based cognitive screeners in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: preliminary evidence.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed at preliminarily assessing, in a cohort of non-demented amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients, the ecological validity, and more specifically the veridicality, of the Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS) and the ALS Cognitive Behavioral Screen (ALS-CBS™), by relating their scores to caregiver-report ratings of cognitive changes. METHODS: N = 147 patient-caregiver dyads were recruited. Patients were administered the ECAS and ALS-CBS™, whilst caregiver the Caregiver Behavioral Questionnaire (CBQ) and Beaumont Behavioural Inventory (BBI). An Ecological Cognitive Functioning Index (ECFI) was derived from those items of the CBQ and BBI that tap on executive and language changes. Ecological validity was assessed via both correlational and predictive analyses net of caregiver-rated behavioural changes (as assessed by the ECAS-Carer Interview). RESULTS: The ECFI was associated with the total scores on both the ECAS (p = .014) and ALS-CBS™ (p = .017). When looking at ECAS and ALS-CBS™ subscales, those assessing verbal fluency were selectively associated with the ECFI. The ECFI was higher in patients performing defectively on the ECAS (p = .004) and on the ALS-CBS™ (p = .027). DISCUSSION: This study suggests that both the ECAS and the ALS-CBS™ represent a valid estimate of non-demented ALS patients' cognitive status in the real world, also highlighting the clinical relevance of cognitive changes reported by caregivers.

Validity, diagnostics and feasibility of the Italian version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in Huntington's disease.

BACKGROUND: This study is aimed at assessing the clinimetric properties and feasibility of the Italian version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in patients with Huntington's disease (HD). METHODS: N = 39 motor-manifest HD patients, N = 74 Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and N = 92 matched HCs were administered the MoCA. HD patients further underwent the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS), self-report questionnaires for anxiety and depression and a battery of first- and second-level cognitive tests. Construct validity was tested against cognitive and behavioural/psychiatric measures, whereas ecological validity against motor-functional subscales of the UHDRS. Sensitivity to disease severity was tested, via a logistic regression, by exploring whether the MoCA discriminated between patients in Shoulson-Fahn stage ≤ 2 vs. > 2. The same analysis was employed to test its ability to discriminate HD patients from HCs and PD patients. RESULTS: The MoCA converged towards cognitive and behavioural measures but diverged from psychiatric ones, being also associated with motor/functional measures from the UHDRS. In identifying patients with cognitive impairment, adjusted MoCA scores were highly accurate (AUC = .92), yielding optimal diagnostics at the cut-off of < 19.945 (J = .78). The MoCA was able to discriminate patients in the middle-to-advanced from those in the early-to-middle stages of the disease (p = .037), as well as to differentiate HD patients from both HCs (p < .001) and PD patients (p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The MoCA is a valid, diagnostically sound and feasible cognitive screener in motor-manifest HD patients, whose adoption is thus encouraged in clinical practice and research.

Longitudinal Feasibility of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in Non-Demented ALS Patients.

INTRODUCTION: The present study aimed at testing the longitudinal feasibility of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in an Italian cohort of non-demented amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. METHODS: N = 39 non-demented ALS patients were followed-up at a 5-to-10-month interval (M = 6.8; SD = 1.4) with the MoCA and the Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioral ALS Screen (ECAS). Practice effects, test-retest reliability, and predictive validity (against follow-up ECAS scores) were assessed. Reliable change indices (RCIs) were derived via a regression-based approach by accounting for retest interval and baseline confounders (i.e., demographics, disease duration, and severity and progression rate). RESULTS: At retest, 100% and 69.2% of patients completed the ECAS and the MoCA, respectively. Patients who could not complete the MoCA showed a slightly more severe and fast-progressing disease. The MoCA was not subject to practice effects (t[32] = -0.80; p = 0.429) and was reliable at retest (intra-class correlation = 0.82). Moreover, baseline MoCA scores predicted the ECAS at retest. RCIs were successfully derived - with baseline MoCA scores being the only significant predictor of retest performances (ps < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: As long as motor disabilities do not undermine its applicability, the MoCA appears to be longitudinally feasible at a 5-to-10-month interval in non-demented ALS patients. However, ALS-specific screeners - such as the ECAS - should be preferred whenever possible.

Clinimetrics and feasibility of the Italian version of the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) in non-demented Parkinson's disease patients.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed at assessing the cross-sectional and longitudinal clinimetrics and feasibility of the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) in non-demented Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. METHODS: N = 109 PD patients underwent the FAB and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). A subsample of patients further underwent a thorough motor, functional and behavioral evaluation (the last including measures of anxiety, depression and apathy). A further subsample was administered a second-level cognitive battery tapping on attention, executive functioning, language, memory, praxis and visuo-spatial abilities. The following properties of the FAB were tested: (1) concurrent validity and diagnostics against the MoCA; (2) convergent validity against the second-level cognitive battery; (4) association with motor, functional and behavioral measures; (5) capability to discriminate patients from healthy controls (HCs; N = 96); (6) assessing its test-retest reliability, susceptibility to practice effects and predictive validity against the MoCA, as well as deriving reliable change indices (RCIs) for it, at a ≈ 6-month interval, within a subsample of patients (N = 33). RESULTS: The FAB predicted MoCA scores at both T0 and T1, converged with the vast majority of second-level cognitive measures and was associated with functional independence and apathy. It accurately identified cognitive impairment (i.e., a below-cut-off MoCA score) in patients, also discriminating patients from HCs. The FAB was reliable at retest and free of practice effects; RCIs were derived according to a standardized regression-based approach. DISCUSSION: The FAB is a clinimetrically sound and feasible screener for detecting dysexecutive-based cognitive impairment in non-demented PD patients.

Prevalence and determinants of language impairment in non-demented amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This study aimed at estimating the prevalence of language impairment (LI) in a large, clinic-based cohort of non-demented amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients and assessing its underpinnings at motor and non-motor levels. METHODS: Non-demented ALS patients (N = 348) underwent the Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS), as well as an assessment of behavioural/psychiatric and motor-functional features. The prevalence of LI was estimated based on the proportion of patients showing a performance below the age- and education-adjusted cut-off on the ECAS-Language. Multiple regression models were run to assess the determinants of language functioning and impairment. RESULTS: The prevalence of LI was 22.7%. 46.6% of the variance of ECAS-Language scores remained unexplained, with only the ECAS-Executive positively predicting them (p < 0.001; η2  = 0.07). Similarly, only a lower score on the ECAS-Executive predicted a higher probability of a below cut-off ECAS-Language performance (p < 0.001). Spelling and Naming tasks were the major drivers of ECAS-Language performance. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that, in non-demented ALS patients, LI occurs in ≈23% of cases, is significantly driven by executive dysfunction but, at the same time, partially independent of it and is not associated with other motor or non-motor features.

Diagnostic properties of the Italian ECAS Carer Interview (ECAS-CI).

BACKGROUND: This study aimed at providing diagnostic properties and normative cut-offs for the Italian ECAS Carer Interview (ECAS-CI). MATERIALS: N = 292 non-demented ALS patients and N = 107 healthy controls (HCs) underwent the ECAS-CI and the Frontal Behavioural Inventory (FBI). Two ECAS-CI measures were addressed: (1) the number of symptoms (NoS; range = 0-13) and (2) that of individual symptom clusters (SC; range = 0-6). Diagnostics were explored against an FBI score ≥ than the 95th percentile of the patients' distribution. RESULTS: Both the NoS and SC discriminated patient from HCs. High accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were detected for both the NoS and SC; however, at variance with SC, the NoS showed better post-test features and did not overestimate the occurrence of behavioural changes. The ECAS-CI converged with the FBI and diverged from the cognitive section of the ECAS. DISCUSSION: The ECAS-CI is a suitable screener for behavioural changes in ALS patients, with the NoS being its best outcome measure (cut-off: ≥ 3).

Feasibility and diagnostics of the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: The present study aimed at evaluating the diagnostic properties of the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) in non-demented ALS patients by addressing the Edinburgh Cognitive Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS) as the gold standard, as well as by examining the association between its administrability and scores with motor-functional measures. MATERIALS: N = 348 consecutive patients were administered the ECAS and FAB. Disease severity (ALSFRS-R), duration, progression rate (ΔFS), and stages (via King's and Milano-Torino systems) were considered. Administrability rates and prevalence of below-cut-off FAB scores were compared across clinical stages; regression models allowed to test whether, net of the ECAS-Total, motor features predicted the probability of the FAB not being administrable and of a defective FAB score. Intrinsic and post-test diagnostics were explored against a combined defective ECAS-Executive and ECAS-Fluency scores. RESULTS: 85.3% of patients managed to complete the FAB. FAB administrability rates decreased with advanced clinical stages, whereas the prevalence of below-cut-off FAB scores did not. The probability of the FAB not being administrable was predicted only by lower ALSFRS-R-bulbar and ALSFRS-R-upper-limb scores; no motor features, but the ECAS-Total, predicted a below-cut-off performance on the FAB. Raw and adjusted FAB scores showed high accuracy (AUC = .85 and .81, respectively) and good intrinsic and post-test properties. DISCUSSION: The FAB is featured by optimal diagnostics for detecting executive deficits in ALS, provided that it can be administered according to its original, standardized procedure, and thus that patients have sufficiently spared motor abilities to complete the test.

Cerebrospinal fluid/serum albumin quotient (Q-Alb) is not increased in Alzheimer's disease compared to neurological disease controls: a retrospective study on 276 patients.

BACKGROUND: The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)/serum albumin quotient (Q-Alb) is a marker of the blood-CSF barrier (BCSFB) and possibly of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). The latter is known to be altered in Alzheimer's disease (AD) based on neuropathological and neuroimaging studies. Following investigations performed on clinically diagnosed cohorts, we aimed at comparing Q-Alb in cognitively impaired patients with neurochemical demonstration of AD pathophysiology and neurological disease controls (NDCs). METHODS: We evaluated N = 144 AD patients (MCI, N = 43; AD dementia - ADD, N = 101) and N = 132 NDCs. AD patients were all A + according to the A/T/N framework and were neurochemically classified based on T and N parameters. RESULTS: Q-Alb did not significantly differ between AD patients and NDCs. Moreover, it was not associated with disease stage (MCI vs. ADD), MMSE score, or CSF AD biomarkers. DISCUSSION: Our study indicates that BCSFB dysfunction is not a specific feature of AD. When interpreting Q-Alb as a marker of the BBB, the lack of difference from NDCs might be due to BBB dysfunction widely occurring in other neurological, non-degenerative, conditions or - more probably - to low sensitivity of this biochemical parameter towards subtle BBB alterations causing leakage of molecules smaller than albumin. Furthermore, Q-Alb is not associated with the degree of global cognitive deterioration in AD, nor with CSF AD neurochemical biomarkers.

Influence of kidney function and CSF/serum albumin ratio on plasma Aß42 and Aß40 levels measured on a fully automated platform in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

INTRODUCTION: Alzheimer's disease  (AD) is characterized by decreased cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Aß42 and Aß42/Aß40 ratio. Aß peptides can now be measured also in plasma and are promising peripheral biomarkers for AD. We evaluated the relationships of plasma Aß species with their CSF counterparts, kidney function, and serum/CSF albumin ratio (Q-Alb) in AD patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We measured plasma Aß42 and Aß40, as well as CSF AD biomarkers, with the fully automated Lumipulse platform in a cohort of N = 30 patients with clinical and neurochemical diagnosis of AD. RESULTS: The two plasma Aß peptides correlated strongly with each other (r = 0.7449), as did the corresponding CSF biomarkers (r = 0.7670). On the contrary, the positive correlations of plasma Aß42, Aß40, and Aß42/Aß40 ratio with their CSF counterparts and the negative correlation of plasma Aß42/Aß40 ratio with CSF P-tau181 were not statistically significant. Plasma levels of both Aß species negatively correlated with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (Aß42: r = -0.4138; Aß40: r = -0.6015), but plasma Aß42/Aß40 ratio did not. Q-Alb did not correlate with any plasma Aß parameter. DISCUSSION: Plasma Aß42 and Aß40 are critically influenced by kidney function; however, their ratio is advantageously spared from this effect. The lack of significant correlations between plasma Aß species and their CSF counterparts is probably mainly due to small sample size and inclusion of only Aß + individuals. Q-Alb is not a major determinant of plasma Aß concentrations, highlighting the uncertainties about mechanisms of Aß transfer between CNS and periphery.

Clinical usability of the Story-Based Empathy Task (SET) in non-demented ALS patients.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed at assessing the clinical usability of the Story-Based Empathy Task (SET) in non-demented amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. METHODS: N = 106 non-demented ALS patients and N = 101 healthy controls (HCs) were administered the SET, which includes three subtests assessing Emotion Attribution (SET-EA), Intention Attribution (SET-IA) and causal inference (SET-CI) - the latter being a control task. Patients also underwent the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET), the Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS) and a thorough behavioural and motor-functional evaluation. The diagnostics of the SET-EA and -IA were tested against a defective performance on the RMET. The association between SET subtests and cognitive/behavioural outcomes was examined net of demographic and motor-functional confounders. Case-control discrimination was explored for each SET subtest. RESULTS: Demographically adjusted SET-EA and -IA scores accurately detected defective RMET performances at the optimal cutoffs of <3.04 (AUC = .84) and <3.61 (AUC = .88), respectively. By contrast, the SET-CI performed poorly in doing so (AUC = .58). The SET-EA converged with the RMET, as well as with ECAS-Executive and -Memory scores, whilst the SET-IA was unrelated to cognitive measures (including the RMET); the SET-CI was related to the ECAS-Language the ECAS-Executive. SET subscores were unrelated to behavioural outcomes. Only the SET-EA discriminated patients from HCs. CONCLUSIONS: The SET as a whole should not be addressed as a social-cognitive measure in this population. At variance, its subtest tapping on emotional processing - i.e., the SET-EA - is recommended for use as an estimate of social-cognitive abilities in non-demented ALS patients.

Lower semantic fluency scores and a phonemic-over-semantic advantage predict abnormal CSF P-tau181 levels in Aß + patients within the Alzheimer's disease clinical spectrum.

BACKGROUND: The present study aimed to determine whether patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia due to Alzheimer's disease (AD), semantic verbal fluency (SVF), and the semantic-phonemic discrepancy (SPD) could predict abnormal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) phosphorylated tau (P-tau181) and total tau (T-tau) levels. METHODS: Phonemic verbal fluency (PVF) and SVF scores of N = 116 Aß-positive patients with either MCI due to AD (N = 39) or probable AD dementia (ADD; N = 77) were retrospectively collected. The SPD was computed by subtracting PVF scores from SVF ones (positive and negative values corresponding to a semantic and phonemic advantage, respectively). Patients were cognitively phenotyped via a thorough test battery and profiled according to the amyloidosis/tauopathy/neurodegeneration (ATN) framework via CSF analyses. Two separate sets of logistic regressions were run to predict normal vs. abnormal P-tau181 and T-tau levels by encompassing as predictors SVF + PVF and SPD and covarying for demographic, disease-related features, and cognitive profile. RESULTS: Lower SVF, but not PVF, scores, as well as a greater phonemic advantage (i.e., negative SPD values), predicted abnormal CSF P-tau181 levels (p ≤ .01). Moreover, lower SVF scores were selectively predictive of abnormal CSF T-tau levels too (p = .016), while the SPD was not. DISCUSSION: SVF and the SPD are able to predict tauopathy across the AD spectrum, thus supporting their status of valid, and sufficiently specific, cognitive markers of AD.

Clinimetrics of the cognitive section of the Italian ALS Cognitive Behavioral Screen (ALS-CBS™).

BACKGROUND: The present study aimed at (1) providing further validity and reliability evidence for the Italian version of the cognitive section of the ALS Cognitive Behavioral Screen (ALS-CBS™) and (2) testing its diagnostics within an Italian ALS cohort, as well as at (3) exploring its capability to discriminate patients from healthy controls (HCs). METHODS: N = 293 non-demented ALS patients were administered the cognitive sections of the ALS-CBS™ and Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS). N = 96 HCs demographically matched with N = 96 patients were also administered the cognitive section of the ALS-CBS™. In patients, factorial and construct validity, internal reliability, and diagnostics against a defective score on the cognitive section of the ECAS were tested. Case-control discrimination was assessed via a logistic regression. RESULTS: ALS-CBS™ cognitive subscales were underpinned by a simple, unidimensional structure, internally reliable (McDonald's ω = 0.74), and mostly related with ECAS executive and fluency scores (rs = 0.54-0.71). Both raw and age- and education-adjusted scores on the cognitive section of the ALS-CBS™ accurately detected ECAS-defined cognitive impairment (AUC = 0.80 and .88, respectively), yielding optimal error-based, information-based and unitary diagnostics. A cut-off of < 15.374 was identified on adjusted scores. The test was able to discriminate patients from HCs (p < 0.001). DISCUSSION: The cognitive section of the Italian ALS-CBS™ is a valid, reliable, and diagnostically sound ALS-specific screener for detecting frontotemporal, executive-/attentive-based cognitive inefficiency in non-demented ALS patients, being also able to discriminate them from normotypical individuals.

Upper motor neuron dysfunction is associated with the presence of behavioural impairment in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Increasing evidence shows that approximately half of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) display cognitive (ALSci) or behavioural (ALSbi) impairment, or both (ALScbi). The aim of our study was to assess whether the burden of upper and lower motor neuron involvement is associated with the presence of cognitive and behavioural impairment. METHODS: A single-centre retrospective cohort of 110 Italian ALS patients was evaluated to assess correlations between motor and cognitive/behavioural phenotypes. Upper motor neuron regional involvement was measured with the Penn Upper Motor Neuron Score (PUMNS), whilst lower motor neuron signs were assessed using the Lower Motor Neuron Score. The Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen-Italian version and the Frontal Behaviour Inventory were administered to evaluate patients' cognitive and behavioural profiles. RESULTS: The PUMNS at first visit was significantly higher in behaviourally impaired ALS patients (ALSbi and ALScbi) compared to behaviourally unimpaired individuals (ALS and ALSci) (9.9 vs. 6.9, p = 0.014). Concerning the different Frontal Behaviour Inventory subdomains, higher PUMNS correlated with the presence of apathy, emotive indifference, inflexibility, inattention, perseveration and aggressiveness. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the first study showing that a clinical prominent upper motor neuron dysfunction is associated with a more significant behavioural impairment in ALS patients, suggesting the hypothesis of a preferential spreading of the pathology from the motor cortex to the ventromedial prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortex in this group of patients.

Ecological Validity of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment in Non-Demented Parkinson's Disease Patients.

BACKGROUND: The ecological validity of performance-based cognitive screeners needs to be tested in order for them to be fully recommended for use within clinical practice and research. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to examine, within an Italian cohort of non-demented Parkinson's disease (PD) patients, the ecological validity of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) by assessing its association with (1) functional independence (FI), (2) quality of life (QoL), and (3) behavioural-psychological (BP) outcomes. METHODS: Seventy-four non-demented PD patients were administered the MoCA and underwent motor functional - i.e., Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), Modified Hoehn-Yahr Scale (HY), and Schwab and England Scale (SES) -, behavioural and psychological - i.e., State- and Trait-Anxiety Inventory-Form Y (STAI-Y1/-Y2), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Dimensional Apathy Scale (DAS) - and QoL evaluations - i.e., MOS 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). Associations of interest against FI, QoL, and BP outcomes were tested via Bonferroni-corrected Pearson's/Spearman's correlations while covarying for demographics, disease duration as well as UPDRS-III, UPDRS-IV, and HY scores. Intake of psychotropic drugs was also covaried when assessing the association between the MoCA and BP/QoL measures. RESULTS: MoCA scores were significantly associated with the SES (rs(73) = 0.34; p = 0.005) and the DAS-Executive (r(67) = -0.47; p < 0.001), while not to other FI/BP outcomes and QoL measures. CONCLUSIONS: The MoCA is a valid estimate of daily life functional autonomy in non-demented PD patients, also reflecting apathetic features of a dysexecutive nature.

Compensating for verbal-motor deficits in neuropsychological assessment in movement disorders: sensitivity and specificity of the ECAS in Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases.

INTRODUCTION: The study aims at investigating psychometric properties of the Edinburgh cognitive and behavioural ALS screen (ECAS) in Parkinson's (PD) and Huntington's (HD) diseases. The sensitivity and specificity of the ECAS in highlighting HD and PD cognitive-behavioural features and in differentiating between these two populations and from healthy controls (HC) were evaluated. Moreover, correlations between the ECAS and traditional cognitive measures, together with core clinical features, were analysed. METHODS: Seventy-three PD patients, 38 HD patients, and 49 education-matched healthy participants were enrolled. Participants were administered the ECAS, together with other cognitive screening tools and psychological questionnaires. Patients' behavioural assessment was also carried out with carers. RESULTS: The ECAS distinguished between HD patients and HC and between the two clinical syndromes with high sensitivity and specificity. Even if the diagnostic accuracy of the ECAS in distinguishing between PD and HC was low, the PD cognitive phenotype was very well described by the ECAS performances. Convergent validity of the ECAS against other traditional cognitive screening was observed, as well as correlations with psychological aspects and typical clinical features, especially for the HD group. CONCLUSIONS: The ECAS represents a rapid and feasible tool, useful also in other neurodegenerative disorders affecting verbal-motor abilities than the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis such as PD and HD. Clinical applications in these neurodegenerative conditions require further investigations and, probably, some adaptations of the original test.

Sexuality and intimacy in ALS: systematic literature review and future perspectives.

Several features of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) impact on sexuality and intimate relationship; however, the issue has received poor attention so far. We performed a systematic literature review in order to provide an up-to-date account of sexuality in ALS. References were identified by searches of PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and PsycINFO (1970-2017, English literature). The following were the key terms: 'sexual' OR 'sexuality' OR 'intimacy' OR 'marital' AND 'ALS' OR 'Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis' OR 'Motor Neuron Disease' OR 'MND'. Titles and abstracts were screened for relevance and a full-text analysis was performed on the selected articles. Studies were included if they referred to sexual well-being/activities/functions or intimate relationship between patients and their partners and management of such topic by clinicians. Eligibility assessment was performed independently by two reviewers. A thematic and level of evidence classification of studies was performed. Studies' design, objectives, measurements and outcomes were summarised. Thirty articles were included and four topics were identified: intimacy in the dyads; sexual activities in patients and with their partners; sexual function disturbances; and sexuality and cognitive-behavioural alterations. The quality of the studies varies, with globally poor level of evidence. Some sexuality issues have been only sparsely addressed, such as gender-related differences, same-sex relationships and sexual activities other than intercourse. Sexuality in ALS is still not adequately considered by clinicians and researchers. We present preliminary recommendations for improving sexuality and intimacy at any ALS multidisciplinary clinics.

An eye-tracking controlled neuropsychological battery for cognitive assessment in neurological diseases.

Traditional cognitive assessment in neurological conditions involving physical disability is often prevented by the presence of verbal-motor impairment; to date, an extensive motor-verbal-free neuropsychological battery is not available for such purposes. We adapted a set of neuropsychological tests, assessing language, attentional abilities, executive functions and social cognition, for eye-tracking (ET) control, and explored its feasibility in a sample of healthy participants. Thirty healthy subjects performed a neuropsychological assessment, using an ET-based neuropsychological battery, together with standard "paper and pencil" cognitive measures for frontal (Frontal Assessment Battery-FAB) and working memory abilities (Digit Sequencing Task) and for global cognitive efficiency (Montreal Cognitive Assessment-MoCA). Psychological measures of anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Y-STAI-Y) and depression (Beck Depression Inventory-BDI) were also collected, and a usability questionnaire was administered. Significant correlations were observed between the "paper and pencil" screening of working memory abilities and the ET-based neuropsychological measures. The ET-based battery also correlated with the MoCA, while poor correlations were observed with the FAB. Usability aspects were found to be influenced by both working memory abilities and psychological components. The ET-based neuropsychological battery developed could provide an extensive assessment of cognitive functions, allowing participants to perform tasks independently from the integrity of motor or verbal channels. Further studies will be aimed at investigating validity and usability components in neurological populations with motor-verbal impairments.

Clinical validity of the Italian adaptation of the Uniform Data Set Neuropsychological Test Battery (I-UDSNB) in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease.

BACKGROUND: The identification and staging of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) represent a challenge, especially in the prodromal stage of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), when cognitive changes can be subtle. Worldwide efforts were dedicated to select and harmonize available neuropsychological instruments. In Italy, the Italian Network of Neuroscience and Neuro-Rehabilitation has promoted the adaptation of the Uniform Data Set Neuropsychological Test Battery (I-UDSNB), collecting normative data from 433 healthy controls (HC). Here, we aimed to explore the ability of I-UDSNB to differentiate between a) MCI and HC, b) AD and HC, c) MCI and AD. METHODS: One hundred thirty-seven patients (65 MCI, 72 AD) diagnosed after clinical-neuropsychological assessment, and 137 HC were included. We compared the I-UDSNB scores between a) MCI and HC, b) AD and HC, c) MCI and AD, with t-tests. To identify the test(s) most capable of differentiating between groups, significant scores were entered in binary logistic and in stepwise regressions, and then in Receiver Operating Characteristic curve analyses. RESULTS: Two episodic memory tests (Craft Story and Five Words test) differentiated MCI from HC subjects; Five Words test, Semantic Fluency (vegetables), and TMT-part B differentiated AD from, respectively, HC and MCI. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that the I-UDSNB is a suitable tool for the harmonized and concise assessment of patients with cognitive decline, showing high sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of MCI and AD.