Time Processing in Huntington's Disease: A Group-Control Study

BACKGROUND: “Timing” processes are mediated via a disturbed neuronal network including the basal ganglia. Brain structures important for “timing” are also discussed to be critical for the deterioration of movements in Huntington's disease (HD). Changes in “timing processes” are found in HD, but no study has varied the degree of motor demands in timing functions in parallel in HD. It may be hypothesized that timing functions may be deteriorated to a different extent in motor and non-motor timing, because in motor timing the underlying brain structures may be more demanding than in non-motor timing. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPLE FINDINGS: We assessed timing in two different experiments: a time-estimation (TE) and a time-discrimination (TD) task. The demand on motor functions is high in the TE-task and low in the TD-task. Furthermore, general motor ability was assessed at different complexity levels. A presymptomatic (pHD), a symptomatic (HD) and a control group were investigated. We found a decline in timing functions when demands on the motor system were high (TE-task), in HD and even in pHD, compared to controls. In non-motor timing (TD task) and in the assessment of general motor ability, performance in the pHD-group was comparable to the controls and better than in the symptomatic group. Performance in both timing tasks was related to the duration until the estimated age of onset in pHDs. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The study shows a selective deterioration of time-estimation processes in symptomatic and even presymptomatic Huntington's disease. Time-discrimination processes were not affected in both patient groups. The relation of timing performance to the duration until the estimated age of onset in pHD is of clinical importance.