Abstract
Pathophysiological evidence suggests an involvement of frontostriatal circuits in Tourette syndrome (TS) and cognitive abnormalities have been detected in tasks sensitive to cognitive deficits associated with prefrontal damage (verbal fluency, planning, attention shifting, working memory, cognitive flexibility, and social reasoning). A disorder in counterfactual thinking (CFT), a behavioural executive process linked to the prefrontal cortex functioning, has not been investigated in TS. CFT refers to the generation of a mental simulation of alternatives to past factual events, actions, and outcomes. It is a pervasive cognitive feature in everyday life and it is closely related to decision-making, planning, problem-solving, and experience-driven learning - cognitive processes that involve wide neuronal networks in which prefrontal lobes play a fundamental role. Clinical observations in patients with focal prefrontal lobe damage or with neurological and psychiatric diseases related to frontal lobe dysfunction (e.g., Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and schizophrenia) show counterfactual thinking impairments. In this work, we evaluate the performance of CFT in a group of patients with Tourette's syndrome compared with a group of healthy participants. Overall results showed no statistical differences in counterfactual thinking between TS patients and controls in the three counterfactual measures proposed.The possible explanations of this unexpected result are discussed below.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 256089 |
| Journal | Behavioural Neurology |
| Volume | 2014 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
- Clinical Neurology
- Neurology
Cite this
Counterfactual thinking in Tourette's syndrome : A study using three measures. / Zago, Stefano; Ponti, Adriana Delli; Mastroianni, Silvia; Solca, Federica; Tomasini, Emanuele; Poletti, Barbara; Inglese, Silvia; Sartori, Giuseppe; Porta, Mauro.
In: Behavioural Neurology, Vol. 2014, 256089, 2014.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Counterfactual thinking in Tourette's syndrome
T2 - A study using three measures
AU - Zago, Stefano
AU - Ponti, Adriana Delli
AU - Mastroianni, Silvia
AU - Solca, Federica
AU - Tomasini, Emanuele
AU - Poletti, Barbara
AU - Inglese, Silvia
AU - Sartori, Giuseppe
AU - Porta, Mauro
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Pathophysiological evidence suggests an involvement of frontostriatal circuits in Tourette syndrome (TS) and cognitive abnormalities have been detected in tasks sensitive to cognitive deficits associated with prefrontal damage (verbal fluency, planning, attention shifting, working memory, cognitive flexibility, and social reasoning). A disorder in counterfactual thinking (CFT), a behavioural executive process linked to the prefrontal cortex functioning, has not been investigated in TS. CFT refers to the generation of a mental simulation of alternatives to past factual events, actions, and outcomes. It is a pervasive cognitive feature in everyday life and it is closely related to decision-making, planning, problem-solving, and experience-driven learning - cognitive processes that involve wide neuronal networks in which prefrontal lobes play a fundamental role. Clinical observations in patients with focal prefrontal lobe damage or with neurological and psychiatric diseases related to frontal lobe dysfunction (e.g., Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and schizophrenia) show counterfactual thinking impairments. In this work, we evaluate the performance of CFT in a group of patients with Tourette's syndrome compared with a group of healthy participants. Overall results showed no statistical differences in counterfactual thinking between TS patients and controls in the three counterfactual measures proposed.The possible explanations of this unexpected result are discussed below.
AB - Pathophysiological evidence suggests an involvement of frontostriatal circuits in Tourette syndrome (TS) and cognitive abnormalities have been detected in tasks sensitive to cognitive deficits associated with prefrontal damage (verbal fluency, planning, attention shifting, working memory, cognitive flexibility, and social reasoning). A disorder in counterfactual thinking (CFT), a behavioural executive process linked to the prefrontal cortex functioning, has not been investigated in TS. CFT refers to the generation of a mental simulation of alternatives to past factual events, actions, and outcomes. It is a pervasive cognitive feature in everyday life and it is closely related to decision-making, planning, problem-solving, and experience-driven learning - cognitive processes that involve wide neuronal networks in which prefrontal lobes play a fundamental role. Clinical observations in patients with focal prefrontal lobe damage or with neurological and psychiatric diseases related to frontal lobe dysfunction (e.g., Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and schizophrenia) show counterfactual thinking impairments. In this work, we evaluate the performance of CFT in a group of patients with Tourette's syndrome compared with a group of healthy participants. Overall results showed no statistical differences in counterfactual thinking between TS patients and controls in the three counterfactual measures proposed.The possible explanations of this unexpected result are discussed below.
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U2 - 10.1155/2014/256089
DO - 10.1155/2014/256089
M3 - Article
VL - 2014
JO - Behavioural Neurology
JF - Behavioural Neurology
SN - 0953-4180
M1 - 256089
ER -