Cognition, Motor Performance, Mood And Huntington Disease Dissertation Proposal Examples

Background

Huntington disease is degenerative and results in the deterioration of cognition, motor performance and mood changes are also progressive. The disease is inherited and results in the degeneration of nerve cells leading to; hence, its huge impact on a person’s ability to function normally both physically, psychologically and mentally. Most of the people with this disease begin showing signs and symptoms when they are in either their 30s or their 40s (Newcombe, 2009). The onset of the disease can, however, start way earlier in life before the signs and symptoms can be seen either through a clinical or pre-clinical diagnosis. The progression and manifestation of the disease if it starts early differ greatly with the signs and symptoms that begin to manifest as the age of thirty or forty. Different studies have been conducted to determine how mood changes develop in co-existence with anxiety and depression. The studies further suggest that depression, anxiety and mood originate from the same brain facets and attempts to use this biological perspective to understand how the three work independently in regards to the progressiveness of the disease (Henry & Crawford, 2004).
Literature from other studies also suggest that mood changes are not linear; hence the question arises as to how they co-exist yet it is evident from other studies that cognition is on a steady decline from the onset to the end of HD. There is also the aspect of motor performance of an individual with the disease being on a constant and steady decline prompting a need to further understand the link between the three aspects in the progression of the disease. It is, therefore, evident that there is a he discrepancy in the relationship between motor and cognitive performance and mood changes. The diagnosis of the disease can be made using changes in motor skills when the impairments have superseded a certain threshold, but the diagnosis of cognitive performance can be determined preclinical making it hard to understand how the three are in co-existence (Zhao, Guo & Hong 2013).

Aims

This study research aims at identifying the relationship that exists between the mood, cognition and motor performance in the progression of Huntington disease.

Hypothesis

The hypothesis for the research is that mood might not be independent in the progression of Huntington diseases, by there is a relation between cognition and motor performance are much related. This should also hold true, over time, as the disease in progressive (Lezak, Howieson, Bigler & Tranel, 2012).

Methodology

The study method in this research will be longitudinal study as it will entail studying the progression of the mod changes, cognitive and motor performance of the individuals over time.
The measures that will be used in the study research will include the Hospital Anxiety and depression Scale (HADS). The scale is a self-assessment tool to help in detecting the levels of distress, anxiety and depression with fourteen items on the scale being scored from 0-3. The other measurement tool will be the Stroop Task that will help determine the cognitive abilities of the participants (Hirshorn & Thompson-Schill, 2006). The Verbal Fluency measurement tool will also be used to measure the category and fluency verbal abilities of the participants. The Digit Symbol Test will help the researcher determine the memory and the cognitive abilities of the participants by the speed with which they correctly match the symbols with their respective numbers. The other tool is the Motor performance measure that will focus on the different motor functioning abilities of the participants over time. These tools will help in determine how the different participants progressed with each of the tests as per the review of the Registry pack which is administered to all participants (Sauzéon et al, 2011). The data to be used in the proposal with come from the HD Euro study that encompasses European wide study (Fisk, Sharp, 2004). There is need for comparison of the data collected over time from different participants. Therefore, collection of data will have to be from look at least 2 time points for each individual. This way, the research will have data for comparison in order to determine the relationship between the three aspects of HD.

Participants

HD Euro study will be used to select the participants with as many as possible participants who meet the criteria for the study being picked to be part of the research. The main focus when picking the participants will be on the number of times the data was collected from each individual in order to come up with a valid conclusion from the data collected (Weckerly, Wulfeck & Reilly, 2001).

Data analysis

Statistical analysis will be done using ANOVA in an attempt to test the significance in the mean differences obtained from the data. The other statistical analysis, for the data will be done by looking at regression data. Here the data will be compared in order to determine the relationship between one dependent variable and more than one independent variable. The main of regression analysis of data will be to determine how the variables interact and the relationship between the different variables involved in the research. The other statistical analysis method will be will be looking at the relationship between these facets over time. This way, the data collected on each facet will, be compared and a trend identified on how the facet relates to the progression of the disease.

References

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