Assessment of social cognition in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: protocol for a cross-sectional comparative study at Angers University Hospital
Introduction Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder primarily affecting motor neurons. In addition to motor impairments, ALS frequently involves cognitive and behavioural disturbances, including deficits in social cognition, which can impact interpersonal int...
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BMJ Publishing Group
2025-07-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open |
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| author | Julien Cassereau Philippe Allain Juliette Faure-de Baets Jérémy Besnard Etienne Emmelin |
| author_facet | Julien Cassereau Philippe Allain Juliette Faure-de Baets Jérémy Besnard Etienne Emmelin |
| author_sort | Julien Cassereau |
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| description | Introduction Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder primarily affecting motor neurons. In addition to motor impairments, ALS frequently involves cognitive and behavioural disturbances, including deficits in social cognition, which can impact interpersonal interactions and decision-making. Despite increasing recognition of these impairments, existing assessment tools often rely on static stimuli, limiting their ecological validity.Methods and analysis This cross-sectional, single-centre study aims to assess social cognition abilities in patients with ALS compared with healthy controls using a combination of dynamic and static neuropsychological tools. The primary outcome measure will be performance on the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition, an ecologically valid test evaluating theory of mind. Secondary outcomes will include emotion recognition (static and dynamic tasks: Ekman Faces and French Emotion Evaluation Test), mood assessments (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) and clinical variables such as disease severity (ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised), cognitive function (Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural Screen, Mini–Mental State Examination) and disease staging (King’s ALS Clinical Staging System). A total of 74 participants (37 patients with ALS and 37 matched healthy controls) will be recruited. Group differences will be analysed using analysis of variance, while regression models will explore associations between social cognitive deficits and clinical markers of ALS progression.Ethics and dissemination This study has been approved by the French Ethics Committee (CPP) Ouest I under reference 2020-A01213-36. Data collection and processing comply with French and European data protection regulations (GDPR, Loi Informatique et Libertés). Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences and will contribute to improving neuropsychological assessment methods for ALS.Trial registration number NCT04406675. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-709efbf6192a46c9be49e445fb16d121 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2044-6055 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-709efbf6192a46c9be49e445fb16d1212025-08-20T03:33:34ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552025-07-0115710.1136/bmjopen-2024-097543Assessment of social cognition in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: protocol for a cross-sectional comparative study at Angers University HospitalJulien Cassereau0Philippe Allain1Juliette Faure-de Baets2Jérémy Besnard3Etienne Emmelin4CHU d’Angers, Angers, FranceLPPL, Nantes Université, Nantes, FranceLPPL, Nantes Université, Nantes, FranceLPPL, Nantes Université, Nantes, FranceDEP ENS LLSH Psychologie, Université Nantes Angers Le Mans, Angers, FranceIntroduction Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder primarily affecting motor neurons. In addition to motor impairments, ALS frequently involves cognitive and behavioural disturbances, including deficits in social cognition, which can impact interpersonal interactions and decision-making. Despite increasing recognition of these impairments, existing assessment tools often rely on static stimuli, limiting their ecological validity.Methods and analysis This cross-sectional, single-centre study aims to assess social cognition abilities in patients with ALS compared with healthy controls using a combination of dynamic and static neuropsychological tools. The primary outcome measure will be performance on the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition, an ecologically valid test evaluating theory of mind. Secondary outcomes will include emotion recognition (static and dynamic tasks: Ekman Faces and French Emotion Evaluation Test), mood assessments (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) and clinical variables such as disease severity (ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised), cognitive function (Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural Screen, Mini–Mental State Examination) and disease staging (King’s ALS Clinical Staging System). A total of 74 participants (37 patients with ALS and 37 matched healthy controls) will be recruited. Group differences will be analysed using analysis of variance, while regression models will explore associations between social cognitive deficits and clinical markers of ALS progression.Ethics and dissemination This study has been approved by the French Ethics Committee (CPP) Ouest I under reference 2020-A01213-36. Data collection and processing comply with French and European data protection regulations (GDPR, Loi Informatique et Libertés). Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences and will contribute to improving neuropsychological assessment methods for ALS.Trial registration number NCT04406675.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/7/e097543.full |
| spellingShingle | Julien Cassereau Philippe Allain Juliette Faure-de Baets Jérémy Besnard Etienne Emmelin Assessment of social cognition in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: protocol for a cross-sectional comparative study at Angers University Hospital BMJ Open |
| title | Assessment of social cognition in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: protocol for a cross-sectional comparative study at Angers University Hospital |
| title_full | Assessment of social cognition in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: protocol for a cross-sectional comparative study at Angers University Hospital |
| title_fullStr | Assessment of social cognition in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: protocol for a cross-sectional comparative study at Angers University Hospital |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessment of social cognition in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: protocol for a cross-sectional comparative study at Angers University Hospital |
| title_short | Assessment of social cognition in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: protocol for a cross-sectional comparative study at Angers University Hospital |
| title_sort | assessment of social cognition in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis protocol for a cross sectional comparative study at angers university hospital |
| url | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/7/e097543.full |
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