Objective: Cervical dystonia (CD) is a movement disorder characterized by involuntary muscle contractions causing sustained twisting movements and abnormal postures of the neck and head. Assumed affected neuronal regions are the cortico-striatal-thalamo-cortical circuits, which are also involved in cognitive functioning. Indeed, impairments in different cognitive domains have been found in CD patients. However, to date studies have only investigated a limited range of cognitive functions within the same sample. In particular, social cognition (SC) is often missing from study designs. Hence, we aimed to evaluate a broad range of cognitive functions including SC in CD patients. Method: In the present study 20 idiopathic CD patients and 40 age-, gender-, and IQ-matched healthy controls (HCs) were assessed with tests for non-SC (verbal memory, psychomotor speed, and executive functions) as well as for SC (emotion recognition, Theory of Mind (ToM), and empathy). Results: CD patients scored on average significantly lower than HC on tests for non-SC, but did not show impairments on any of the tests for SC. Conclusions: The current study showed impairments in non-SC in CD, but intact social cognitive functions. These results underline the importance of recognizing non-motor symptoms in idiopathic CD patients, but emphasize a focus on identifying strengths and weaknesses in cognitive functioning as these influence daily life activities.

中文翻译：

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继续研究特发性颈肌张力障碍的（社会）认知

目的：颈肌张力障碍（CD）是一种运动障碍，其特征是不自主的肌肉收缩导致颈部和头部持续扭转运动和异常姿势。假设受影响的神经元区域是皮质-纹状体-丘脑-皮质回路，它们也参与认知功能。事实上，在克罗恩病患者中已经发现了不同认知领域的损伤。然而，迄今为止的研究仅调查了同一样本内有限范围的认知功能。特别是，研究设计中经常缺少社会认知（SC）。因此，我们的目的是评估 CD 患者的广泛认知功能，包括 SC。方法：在本研究中，20 名特发性 CD 患者和 40 名年龄、性别和智商匹配的健康对照 (HC) 通过非 SC（言语记忆、精神运动速度和执行功能）以及SC（情绪识别、心理理论 (ToM) 和同理心）。结果：CD 患者在非 SC 测试中的平均得分显着低于 HC，但在任何 SC 测试中均未表现出损伤。结论：目前的研究表明 CD 中的非 SC 存在损害，但社交认知功能完好。这些结果强调了识别特发性 CD 患者非运动症状的重要性，但强调要重点关注识别认知功能的优势和劣势，因为这些影响日常生活活动。