Executive and Socio-cognitive Functions in Survivors of Primary Brain Tumor: Impact on Patients' Quality of Life

Significant advances in primary malignant brain tumors (PBT) treatment have led to dramatically improved survival, both in children and adults. However, survival has not come without a cost and aggressive treatment methods associated with significant long-term adverse effects, often referred to as "late effects" (Panigrahy \& Blüml, 2009). These effects are the medical, physical, cognitive and psychosocial sequelae associated with cancer and its treatments that generally emerge two to five years after treatment ends (e.g., Landier \& Bhatia, 2008). The most serious challenge survivors of brain tumors face may be cognitive dysfunction. One especially important cognitive domain is executive functioning, which refers to essential factors such as problem-solving, goal-directed behavior and the ability to maintain stable interpersonal relationships (Lezak et al., 2004). Despite the potential impact of executive impairments on behavioral regulation and quality of life, few studies were conducted with survivors of PBT specifically for the assessment of executive functioning. Another fundamental neuro-cognitive domain is social cognition, which refers to the ability to understand the intentions and beliefs of others (Frith \& Singer, 2008). Social cognitive deficits are expected to impair autonomy and relationships, but scarce attention has been devoted to the study of social cognition in survivors of PBT and no study has attempted to compare socio-cognitive data and measures of health-related quality of life. It is noteworthy that executive function and socio-cognitive skills improve throughout childhood and adolescence, and improvements in these skills have frequently been attributed to maturation of the brain, especially the prefrontal cortex (e.g., Tamnes et al., 2010). This suggests a greater impact of the disease and its treatment on these functions in children/adolescents.

Sex

All

Minimum age

8 Years

Maximum age

59 Years

Inclusion Criteria:

* Age between 8 and 59
* Children/adolescents and adults who have been treated by chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy and/or neurosurgery, subsequent to the diagnosis of a primary brain tumor
* The end of treatment must be comprised between 2 and 5 years at the time of the assessment, as argued above.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Sensory disturbances (e.g., visual, auditory) incompatible with the achievement of the tasks
* Language or praxis deficits inconsistent with the achievement of the tasks
* Neurological disease other than PBT
* secondary brain tumor
* Psychiatric history (consultation with a psychiatrist of the University Hospital if doubt)
* Insufficient French language proficiency

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