An Exploratory Pilot Study of Neuropsychological Performance in Two Huntington Disease Centers of Excellence Clinics.

This article focuses on characterizing patients referred for neuropsychological evaluation at two Huntington’s Disease Society of America Centers of Excellence (HDSA COE) and assessing the clinical utility of a neuropsychological battery derived from the Huntington’s Disease Cognitive Assessment Battery (HD-CAB). Retrospective analysis of 76 genetically confirmed Huntington’s disease (HD) patients showed a predominance of motor-manifest individuals over premanifest patients, with the latter demonstrating stronger cognitive performance on measures of processing speed, memory, and verbal fluency. The study supports the feasibility of using HD-CAB subtests in clinical settings to detect cognitive impairments across the HD spectrum and highlights the need for earlier neuropsychological evaluation in premanifest patients to improve diagnosis, intervention, and planning. Limitations include the retrospective design, small premanifest sample, and lack of culturally diverse normative data, underscoring the need for future research to refine assessment tools and guidelines for diverse HD populations.