Alteration of interoceptive sensitivity: expanding the spectrum of behavioural disorders in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder with progressive loss of upper and lower motor neurons. Non-motor-symptoms, such as cognitive, emotional, autonomic, and somatosensory alterations, have been also described. Interoception represents the link between the body and brain, since it refers to the ability to consciously perceive the physical condition of the inner body, including one's heartbeat (i.e., interoceptive sensitivity, IS).

Objectives

To evaluate IS in ALS patients by means of a well-established task: the heartbeat perception task. Moreover, we evaluated possible correlations between IS and neuropsychological, affective, and disease-related characteristics.

Methods

Fifty-five ALS patients (mean-age = 60.3 ± 12.5 years;

SUBMITTER: Moretta P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9385786 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature