Testing a social thinking task in people with Huntington's disease
Checks whether the Hinting Task detects social thinking problems in adults with Huntington disease.
Plain-language title generated from the registry record
Registry title: Hinting Task for Huntington's Disease
Key facts
- Where
- Groningen, NetherlandsSee the site
Could this be for you?
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 18 and 74 years old?
Source: NCT06774443, who can take part
Where in Netherlands
- University Medical Center GroningenGroningen, NetherlandsTaking people
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Trial details
- Who runs it
- University Medical Center Groningen
- Trial code
- NCT06774443
- Record updated
- 29 January 2026
- Original description
Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder, characterized by movement disorders, behavioural disorders and cognitive decline. Especially the behavioural and cognitive symptoms of the disease lead to significant disability and burden for patients as well as caregivers. One of the cognitive domains affected by HD is social cognition. Social cognition is the ability to perceive, interpret and respond correctly to social information. Aspects of social cognition are emotion recognition, perspective taking (Theory of Mind), and emapathy. Social cognition problems can be related to behavioural problems, but to be able to study this relationship, it is important to be able to reliable measure social cognition impairments. There are a few social cognition tests available, but often they are not normd and validated for use in a Dutch neurological population. There is a lack of sensitive, simple, tests for measuring Theory of Mind in patients with HD. A promising test, that already has been proven valid in a psychiatric population, is the Hinting Task. The Hinting Task measures theory of mind through indirect speech, The Hinting task is a social cognition test, where hints are implicitly given in speech, which resembles what patients and caregivers frequently report as difficult in HD. The Hinting Task has already been translated into Dutch and is already being used in clinical parctice, but its sensitivity has not been studied yet in a neurological population. The aim of this study is to assess if the Hinting Task is sensitive in patients with HD and to relate the Hinting Task to other (social) cognitive measures, demographical characteristics and disease characteristics.Read full original descriptionShow less
Sensitivity of the Hinting Task in Patients With Huntington's Disease
Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder, characterized by movement disorders, behavioural disorders and cognitive decline. Especially the behavioural and cognitive symptoms of the disease lead to significant disability and burden for patients as well as caregivers. One of the cognitive domains affected by HD is social cognition. Social cognition is the ability to perceive, interpret and respond correctly to social information. Aspects of social cognition are emotion recognition, perspective taking (Theory of Mind), and emapathy. Social cognition problems can be related to behavioural problems, but to be able to study this relationship, it is important to be able to reliable measure social cognition impairments. There are a few social cognition tests available, but often they are not normd and validated for use in a Dutch neurological population. There is a lack of sensitive, simple, tests for measuring Theory of Mind in patients with HD. A promising test, that already has been proven valid in a psychiatric population, is the Hinting Task. The Hinting Task measures theory of mind through indirect speech, The Hinting task is a social cognition test, where hints are implicitly given in speech, which resembles what patients and caregivers frequently report as difficult in HD. The Hinting Task has already been translated into Dutch and is already being used in clinical parctice, but its sensitivity has not been studied yet in a neurological population. The aim of this study is to assess if the Hinting Task is sensitive in patients with HD and to relate the Hinting Task to other (social) cognitive measures, demographical characteristics and disease characteristics.
Inclusion: Confirmed diagnosis of Huntington's disease via CAG-repeat length analysis, minimum of 40 repeats; Between 18 and 74 years of age; Dutch speaking.
Exclusion: Presence of serious psychiatric disorders or other neurological comorbidities.