Cognitive-motor interference during postural control indicates at-risk cerebellar profiles in females with the FMR1 premutation

Claudine M. Kraan*, Darren R. Hocking, Nellie Georgiou-Karistianis, Sylvia A. Metcalfe, Alison D. Archibald, Joanne Fielding, Julian Trollor, John L. Bradshaw, Jonathan Cohen, Kim M. Cornish

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

27 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Recent investigations report a higher risk of motor symptoms in females with the FMR1 premutation (PM-carriers) than has hitherto been appreciated. Here we examined basic sensorimotor and postural control under different sensory and attentional dual-task demands. Physiological performance and postural sway measures from the Physiological Profile Assessment (Lord et al., 2003 [39]) were conducted in 28 female PM-carriers (mean age: 41.32. ±. 8.03) and 31 female controls with normal FMR1 alleles (mean age: 41.61. ±. 8.3). Multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the moderating role of CGG-repeat length on the relation between age and postural sway under dual-task interference. In female PM-carriers, our results showed significantly poorer proprioceptive awareness, slower reaction time, and greater postural displacement when performing a concurrent verbal fluency task. Significantly, these findings showed age- and genetically-modulated changes in dual-task postural displacement in the medio-lateral direction in female PM-carriers. These findings highlight the sensitivity of postural control paradigms in identifying early cerebellar postural changes that may act as surrogate markers of future decline in female PM-carriers.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)329-336
Number of pages8
JournalBehavioural Brain Research
Volume253
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Sept 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Cerebellar motor networks
  • Cognitive-neuromotor interaction
  • Fragile X Mental Retardation gene 1 (FMR1)
  • Fragile X Mental Retardation protein (FMRP)
  • Fragile X Tremor Ataxia Syndrome (FXTAS)
  • Physiological Profile Assessment
  • Postural control

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