Cognitive and neural correlates of impulsivity in movement disorders
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Cognitive and neural correlates of impulsivity in movement disorders: An investigation of the roles of sense of agency and counterfactual reasoning
IRAS ID
56671
Contact name
Clare Eddy
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Birmingham & Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
Research summary
Movement Disorders (MD) include Huntington’s disease and Tourette syndrome. Patients with MD can exhibit impulsive behaviours including gambling, socially inappropriate behaviours, risk-taking, temper and aggression. These problem behaviours are difficult to treat. They have a negative effect on patients (and their carer’s) lives, affect finances and relationships, and can lead to legal problems.\n\nThis project will investigate whether patients with MD can reason normally about the causes and effects of their actions, and how their actions can be modified. The reasoning skills to be investigated are: 1) understanding oneself is the person causing an action (sense of agency) and 2) reflecting on how different actions lead to different consequences (counterfactual reasoning). These skills affect feelings of responsibility for, and control over, our actions. This project will be one of the first to explore these skills in MD. \n\nPatients with MD show changes in the parts of the brain that control movement. Connections between movement parts of the brain and regions important for cognitive (mental) abilities mean that if movement parts of the brain are not working properly, this can affect brain regions involved in cognition, leading to reasoning problems. In this project, brain imaging techniques will reveal whether brain regions look abnormal or behave differently when these patients are doing tasks involving counterfactual reasoning and sense of agency.\n\nIt will show how problems with counterfactual reasoning and sense of agency are linked to impulsive behaviours. It could also show that reasoning problems contribute to other symptoms in MD (e.g. poor insight and motivation, perspective taking deficits). The results will be used to 1) develop a questionnaire to screen for reasoning problems which may predict impulsive behaviours 2) inform the development of related cognitive behavioural therapies 3) understand which parts of the brain are involved in reasoning problems therefore guiding brain-based treatments. \n
REC name
West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/WM/0113
Date of REC Opinion
1 May 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion