Wilson's disease: a cognitive neuropsychological perspective

Background: Wilson's disease manifests as neuro-psychological or psychiatric symptoms along with neurological and liver disease. The present study aimed to probe into the declarative and non-declarative memory profile of Wilson's disease patients from a neurocognitive perspective. Methods: The study involved a sample of 12 Wilson's disease patients and 12 matched non-patient individuals who were assessed on Global Assessment Scale for Wilson's disease, the Edinburgh handedness inventory, memory scales from PGI Battery of Brain Dysfunction, Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, and mirror tracing task. Results: The overall result indicated that the Wilson's disease patient group differed with their non-patient counterparts with respect to immediate memory, recall, recognition, semantic memory, and procedural learning. Conclusion: The neural substrates related to the neuro-psychological symptoms of Wilson's disease patients are found to be a neural network involving basal ganglia, fronto-striatal circuits, and cerebellar region.