The hidden face of Duchenne (Neuro)Muscular Dystrophy. Preliminary evidence of social cognition impairment as a feature of the neuropsychological phenotype of DMD

Introduction

This database includes the raw data linked with the paper “The hidden face of Duchenne (Neuro)Muscular Dystrophy. Preliminary evidence of social cognition impairment as a feature of the neuropsychological phenotype of DMD” published on “Frontiers in Psychology”.

In this paper, we reported the scores of a sample of DMD individuals (n=20) who underwent a neuropsychological battery encompassing standard cognitive assessments (Wechsler scales) and social cognition skills (Social Cognition subtest from the NEPSY-II battery). The aim of this study is to provide further data about the possible impairment of social cognition skills in DMD children, identifying unexplored areas that could be relevant based on the recent findings about dystrophin expression in human CNS.

Methods

A sample of DMD individuals (n=20) underwent a neuropsychological battery encompassing standard cognitive assessments but also less explored social cognition skills. Wechsler scales and a developmental neuropsychological assessment (NEPSY-II) were adopted.

Results

Our sample performed significantly worse than the reference scores in the “social cognition” sub-items of the NEPSY-II; the difference persisted even when splitting the sample by Dp140 depletion or cognitive deficit. The difference in the “affect recognition” scores between the Dp140 + and the Dp140- subgroups was confirmed even after excluding the subjects with a cognitive deficit.