Huntington’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder of genetic origin that generally manifests itself around the age of 40. It is characterized by progressive neuronal degeneration that triggers motor, cognitive and psychiatric alterations, causing significant disability in patients. Although its genetic cause is known and there are tests that allow carriers to be identified before they experience symptoms, there is no cure for the disease.
Having an intellectually stimulating lifestyle has been shown to not only reduce the severity of cognitive deficits in patients with Huntington’s disease, but also slow their progression. Now, a new study led by scientists from the Cognition and Brain Plasticity group of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) has found that these benefits extend to other areas of the disease, such as motor and psychiatric symptoms, and not only to the cognitive ones.
Cognitive reserve protects Huntington’s patients
A team of researchers from IDIBELL and the University of Barcelona (UB), in collaboration with other Catalan centers, has discovered that an intellectually active lifestyle, or what is known as cognitive reserve, has a protective effect on the progression and severity of the three types of symptoms of Huntington’s disease.
Years ago, the same group had proven that this lifestyle provided benefits in cognitive symptoms, but in the new study published in Scientific Reports they demonstrate the transfer of these effects to the other two clinical domains of Huntington’s patients: the motor and the psychiatric
To do this, predoctoral researcher Audrey De Paepe and other researchers led by Dr. Estela Camara evaluated the cognitive reserve of a group of patients, through factors such as level of education, professional occupation, academic and musical courses, number of languages, reading activity or the frequency with which one participated in intellectually complex games such as chess.
Huntington’s patients can employ certain preventative strategies to try to slow or potentially delay the progression of the disease, even before diagnosis
This information was completed with neuroimaging tests in relation to intellectual activity developed throughout life. Models were also performed to see if there were differences in the typical symptoms of the disease depending on the cognitive lifestyle of the participants.
The results have confirmed that greater mental activity throughout life is a protective factor against neurodegeneration, allowing a good brain state to be maintained for longer. In Huntington’s patients, this appears to translate into a later onset of symptoms of cognitive, motor, and psychiatric impairment, possibly due to less brain damage. This would probably allow us to understand part of the differences that had been found in the clinical trajectory of those affected by this disease.
Therefore, this research has significant implications for the management of Huntington’s disease, as it demonstrates that patients can employ certain preventive strategies to try to slow or potentially delay the progression of the disease (even before diagnosis). Furthermore, it highlights the importance of maintaining good brain health through a cognitively active lifestyle, which is not only beneficial for patients with neurodegenerative diseases, but also for the general population.
Source: IDIBELL Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute
