Cognitive functions in patients with restless legs syndrome

Aims and Background: RLS is a burdening disorder with sleep disturbances and impaired quality of life. Comparatively less is known about cognitive functioning in patients with RLS. The aim of this study was therefore to assess cognitive functions in patients with RLS and healthy control subjects Methods: 25 un-medicated patients with RLS and 22 healthy control subjects matched individually for age (+/- 3 years), gender, and education level participated in this ongoing study. Neuropsychological testing in the morning (2 hours) assessed short-term attention and concentration, working memory, short- and long-term memory, verbal fluency, and concept formation. Results: In the sub-sample of 22 RLS patients and 22 individually matched controls, RLS subjects showed decreased performance in short-term attention. In addition, a trend for worse performance in the verbal fluency task was observed. Conclusions: Our preliminary results suggest that RLS patients show deficits in the domain of attention and possibly executive function. Whether these are caused by the sleep disturbances accompanying RLS and are reversed by adequate treatment has to be determined in independent studies.