Hi Bobby,
I saw this article a few weeks ago and will be interested in seeing a larger study.
But, from my personal experience most PALS are highly intellectual.Most of you can comprehend things way over my head.And I would put your cognitive abilities over mine any day.
Stephen Hawking cognitive abilities are off the charts..pure genius, makes me wonder if people with superior intellect have brains that are wired different than the rest of us? I wonder if such studies have ever been performed in people with high IQ's without ALS compared to those of us with average to slightly above average intelligence without ALS ..are their brains different as well chemically?
Could the high intelligence of PALS put them at risk for ALS?though there are certainly many highly intelligent people without the disease..I do wonder if the brains of those with high intellects are wired in different ways than the general population.
At any rate my husbands doctors have observed no cognitive impairments in my husband whatsoever.Although he is very advanced in the disease process.He is crossprescribed an anti depressant but only for its side effect for drying secretions. He handles his disease as many of you do (a heck of alot better than I would). I could not imagine how frustrating it would be for me to know what I want to say.but to have others not understand me if my speech was impaired,or try to type on a speech computer with delayed communication.I don't know how the authors of this study could assume that the verbal impairment was "more" than expected and therefore assume it is related to cognitive function.
Lisa