Prepare for the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) Exam with flashcards and multiple-choice questions. Each question includes insights and explanations to help you excel. Get ready for your certification journey!

Multiple Choice

Huntington's disease commonly impairs which ocular movement?

The main concept is that Huntington's disease disrupts the brain circuits that control voluntary eye movements, especially saccades. Huntington's disease causes degeneration in the basal ganglia and frontal circuits that modulate initiating and directing rapid eye movements. As a result, voluntary saccades become impaired: slower initiation, reduced velocity, and sometimes hypometric or irregular saccades. Pupil reflexes, pupil dilation, and accommodation rely on autonomic pathways and midbrain structures that are not the primary targets of Huntington's pathology, so they are not characteristically affected in the same way. Therefore, the ocular movement most commonly impaired in Huntington's disease is saccades.

The main concept is that Huntington's disease disrupts the brain circuits that control voluntary eye movements, especially saccades. Huntington's disease causes degeneration in the basal ganglia and frontal circuits that modulate initiating and directing rapid eye movements. As a result, voluntary saccades become impaired: slower initiation, reduced velocity, and sometimes hypometric or irregular saccades. Pupil reflexes, pupil dilation, and accommodation rely on autonomic pathways and midbrain structures that are not the primary targets of Huntington's pathology, so they are not characteristically affected in the same way. Therefore, the ocular movement most commonly impaired in Huntington's disease is saccades.