Cognitive change and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis,(ALS)Staging
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Cognitive change and ALS staging: the relationship between cognitive and motor system involvement in ALS.
IRAS ID
151065
Contact name
Sharon Abrahams
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The University of Edinburgh
Research summary
Up to 50% of people with ALS experience changes in thinking,language and/or behaviour. Some suffer from a dementia syndrome, while others have more selective problems in for example, making decisions and managing finances, or difficulties with words and spelling. Some people may experience changes in their behaviour and become apathetic or have dificulty controlling behaviour. The relationship between these changes and the decline in physical disabilites is unclear. This study aims to determine at what point in the disease do these changes occur,how do they progress and how are they related to the progressive physical disablity which characterizes ALS. This will be achieved by using the Edinburgh Cognitive and Behaviour screen, a brief cognitive and behaviour screen suitable for use within a clinic which has been specifically designed for ALS patients with varying disablity with interchangeable tests for thoses with writing or speech problems. Motor decline will be measured using a staging system which categorizes progression of the functional disability in ALS across four stages. The combined dataset will be used to produce a disease staging system.
REC name
South East Scotland REC 01
REC reference
14/SS/1013
Date of REC Opinion
2 Sep 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion