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Birds of a Feather Flock Together: Disadvantageous Decision Making in Augmented Restless Legs Syndrome Patients with and without Impulse Control Disorders

Authors :
Beatrice Heim
Philipp Ellmerer
Ambra Stefani
Anna Heidbreder
Elisabeth Brandauer
Birgit Högl
Klaus Seppi
Atbin Djamshidian
Source :
Brain Sciences, Vol 11, Iss 3, p 383 (2021)
Publication Year :
2021
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2021.

Abstract

Background: Augmentation (AUG) in patients with restless legs syndrome (RLS) can be associated with impulse control disorder (ICD) symptoms, such as compulsive sexual behavior, gambling disorder or compulsive shopping. In this study, we wanted to assess whether RLS patients with AUG differ in decision making from those patients who have augmentation and in addition ICD symptoms (AUG + ICD) in a post hoc analysis of a patient cohort assessed in a previous study. Methods: In total, 40 RLS patients with augmentation (19 AUG + ICD, 21 AUG without ICDs) were included. RLS diagnosis, severity, and diagnosis of augmentation were made by sleep disorder specialists. ICD symptoms were assessed using semi-structured interviews. All patients performed the beads task, which is an information sampling task where participants must decide from which of the two cups colored beads were drawn. Results were compared to 21 healthy controls (HC). Results: There was no difference in information sampling or irrational decision making between AUG and AUG + ICD patients (p = 0.67 and p = 1.00, respectively). Both patient groups drew less beads and made more irrational decisions than HC (all p-values < 0.03, respectively). Conclusions: Our results suggest that augmentation itself is associated with poorer decision making even in the absence of ICD symptoms. Further studies are necessary to explore whether rapid and hasty decision making are a harbinger of augmentation in RLS.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20763425
Volume :
11
Issue :
3
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Brain Sciences
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.357ef3fbb2f74a8592e411adaaa0eed0
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11030383