Margriet M Sitskoorn

• Professor doctor
• Tilburg University

This study examined the nature, severity, and predictors of cognitive complaints in patients referred for suspected obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The sample included 127 patients classified as no OSA (AHI, apnea/hypopnea index < 5, N = 32), mild OSA (AHI 5–15, N = 46), moderate OSA (AHI 15–30, N = 25), or severe OSA (AHI > 30, N = 24), and 53 heal...

Background and purpose Timely identification of local failure after stereotactic radiotherapy for brain metastases allows for treatment modifications, potentially improving outcomes. While previous studies showed that adding radiomics or Deep Learning (DL) features to clinical features increased Local Control (LC) prediction accuracy, their combine...

Background Patients with brain tumors, family members, and healthcare professionals face complex healthcare decisions that can significantly impact everyday life. Engaging in shared decision-making (SDM) can help ensure treatment decisions align with patients’ preferences and goals. Little is known about the decision-making process in neurosurgical...

Background Enhancing Local Control (LC) of brain metastases is pivotal for improving overall survival, which makes the prediction of local treatment failure a crucial aspect of treatment planning. Understanding the factors that influence LC of brain metastases is imperative for optimizing treatment strategies and subsequently extending overall surv...

Purpose Little is known about cognitive complaints (self-reported problems in cognitive functioning) in patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). We compared the prevalence and severity of cognitive complaints in patients with untreated OSA to patients with neurological and respiratory diseases. We also studied risk factors for cognitive complai...

Background and purpose Timely identification of local failure after stereotactic radiotherapy for brain metastases allows for treatment modifications, potentially improving outcomes. Previous studies showed that adding radiomics or Deep Learning (DL) features to clinical features increased Local Control (LC) prediction accuracy. However, no study h...

Background and purpose Accurate segmentation of brain metastases on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a tedious and time-consuming task for radiologists that could be optimized with deep learning (DL) methods. Previous studies that evaluated the performance of several DL algorithms focused on training and testing the models on the planning MRI on...

Background: The Frontal Aslant Tract (FAT) has been associated with executive functions (EF), but it remains unclear what role the FAT plays in EF, and whether preoperative dysfunction of the FAT is associated to long-lasting postsurgical executive impairments. Methods: In this study, we examined the course of EF from pre-surgery (n = 75) to 3 (...

Purpose The aims of this study were to evaluate long-term multidimensional fatigue in patients with brain metastases (BM) up to 21 months after Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) and (change in) fatigue as predictor of survival. Methods Patients with 1 to 10 BM, expected survival > 3 months, and Karnofsky Performance Status ≥ 70, and Dutch non-cancer...

Executive dysfunctions have a high prevalence in low-grade glioma patients and may be the result of structural disconnections of particular subcortical tracts and/or networks. However, little research has focused on preoperative low-grade glioma patients. The frontotemporoparietal network has been closely linked to executive functions and is substa...

Objective As preservation of cognitive functioning increasingly becomes important in the light of ameliorated survival after intracranial tumor treatments, identification of eloquent brain areas would enable optimization of these treatments. Methods This cohort study enrolled adult intracranial tumor patients who received neuropsychological assess...

Background Cognitive training elicits mild-to-moderate improvements in cognitive functioning in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS), although response heterogeneity limits overall effectiveness. Objective To identify patient characteristics associated with response and non-response to cognitive training. Methods Eighty-two PwMS were randomized...

Cognitive impairment, particularly slowing of information processing speed (IPS), is prevalent after stroke. However, the link between subjective cognitive complaints (SCC) and cognitive deficit remains unclear. This study evaluated the link between SCC at three months post stroke and deficit as well as objective alterations in IPS in the first yea...

Background Fatigue is prevalent in patients with a brain tumor and high levels of fatigue persist after neurosurgical tumor resection. The underlying mechanisms are insufficiently understood and this study examines the role of autonomic nervous system dysregulation and objective sleep characteristics in fatigue among post-surgical patients. Methods...

Background Over the past decade, the functional importance of white matter pathways has been increasingly acknowledged in neurosurgical planning. A method to directly study anatomo-functional correlations is direct electrical stimulation (DES). DES has been widely accepted by neurosurgeons as a reliable tool to minimize the occurrence of permanent...

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Background Evidence-based cognitive rehabilitation programs for brain tumor patients are not widely available, despite the high need. We aimed to evaluate the effects of a tablet-based cognitive rehabilitation program on cognitive performance, cognitive complaints, fatigue, and psychological distress in primary brain tumor patients following neuros...

Purpose: Increasingly more patients with multiple (> 4) brain metastases (BM) are being treated with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). Preserving patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important treatment goal. The aim of this study was to assess (individual) changes in HRQoL in patients with 1-10 BM over time. Methods: A total of...

BACKGROUND Survival rates have improved in the past years for patients with brain metastases (BMs). OBJECTIVE To evaluate cognitive functioning and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) after Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) in a relatively large sample of long-term survivors. METHODS Data from 38 long-term survivors (assessments available ≥ 12 m...

In healthy participants, the strength of task-evoked network reconfigurations is associated with cognitive performance across several cognitive domains. It is, however, unclear whether the capacity for network reconfiguration also plays a role in cognitive deficits in brain tumor patients. In the current study, we examined whether the level of reco...

Background While both motor and cognitive impairment are common after stroke, the focus of (early) treatment has always been on motor deficit. Aims The objective of the current study was to explore the link between motor and cognitive performance in stroke patients and to examine whether motor performance is associated with cognitive functioning a...

Background: Pre- and postoperative cognitive deficits have repeatedly been demonstrated in patients with glioblastoma (GBM). Objective: To identify presurgical risk factors that facilitate the identification of GBM patients at risk for postoperative cognitive impairment. Methods: Patients underwent neuropsychological assessment using Central N...

Introduction: Central Nervous System Vital Signs (CNS VS) is a computerized neuropsychological battery that is translated into many languages. However, published CNS VS’ normative data were established over a decade ago, are solely age-corrected, and collected in an American population only. Method: Mean performance of healthy Dutch participants on...

Purpose A growing number of patients with brain metastases (BM) are being treated with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), and the importance of evaluating the impact of SRS on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in these patients has been increasingly acknowledged. This systematic review summarizes the current knowledge about the HRQoL of pati...

Background: Subjective Cognitive Complaints (SCC) are common after stroke. This study documents the prevalence and course of SCC in the first year after stroke and determines which patient characteristics in the first 3 months predict subsequent SCC at 1-year follow-up. Methods: Using a longitudinal design, 155 patients (mean age 64.0 ± 11.9 yea...

Background: Patients with glioma often suffer from cognitive deficits. Physical exercise has been effective in ameliorating cognitive deficits in older adults and neurological patients. This pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) explored the possible impact of an exercise intervention, designed to improve cognitive functioning in glioma patients...

Objective: The authors evaluated the cognitive performance of patients with low-grade glioma (LGG) before and after surgery, and specifically investigated 1) the effects of hemispheric tumor location and 2) the type of surgery (either with or without intraoperative stimulation mapping [ISM]). Methods: Patients underwent neuropsychological assess...

Purpose: Information on predictive factors of cognitive functioning in patients with (multiple) brain metastases (BM) selected for radiosurgery may allow for more individual care and may play a role in predicting cognitive outcome after radiosurgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate cognitive performance, and predictors thereof, in patients w...

Purpose Progressive disease in patients with high-grade glioma may be reflected in cognitive decline. However, the cognitive functions most sensitive to progression may differ between patients. We investigated whether decline on a personalized selection of tests predicted progressive disease according to RANO criteria in high-grade glioma patients....

Purpose Fatigue is a common and distressing symptom in cancer patients which negatively affects patients’ daily functioning and health-related quality of life. The aim of this study was to assess multidimensional fatigue in patients with brain metastases (BM) before, and after Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS). Methods Patients with BM, an expected...

OBJECTIVE Patients with nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) can suffer from cognitive dysfunction. However, the literature on longitudinal cognitive follow-up of patients undergoing endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery (EETS) is limited. This study was performed to investigate perioperative cognitive status and course in patients with...

Purpose Information on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients with brain metastases (BM) before stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is very relevant to improve communication between patients and clinicians and to be able to interpret changes in HRQoL after SRS. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and severity of complaints...

Background Fatigue is a common symptom in patients with brain tumors, but comprehensive studies on fatigue in patients with meningioma specifically are lacking. This study examined the prevalence and correlates of fatigue in meningioma patients. Methods Patients with grade I meningioma completed the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20) befo...

Objective Although meningioma patients show deficits in objective cognitive functioning (OCF) measured with neuropsychological tests, subjective cognitive functioning (SCF) has received little attention. We investigate SCF from pre‐ to post‐surgery and its associations with OCF, psychological, sociodemographic, and clinical characteristics. Method...

Introduction Many patients with brain cancer experience cognitive problems. In this narrative review, we comprehensively evaluated empirical studies on various intervention approaches for cognitive problems in these patients. Methods Intervention studies that reported effects on cognitive functioning (either objectively tested or subjectively repo...

Background Meningioma patients are known to face cognitive deficits before and after surgery. We examined individual changes in cognitive performance over time and identified preoperative predictors of cognitive functioning 12 months after surgery in a large sample of meningioma patients. Methods Patients underwent neuropsychological assessment (NP...

Background: Meningioma patients are known to face cognitive deficits before and after surgery. We examined individual changes in cognitive performance over time and identified preoperative predictors of cognitive functioning 12 months after surgery in a large sample of meningioma patients. Methods: Patients underwent neuropsychological assessmen...

While informal caregivers often feel burdened by the care for a person with dementia, they can also experience positive consequences due to caregiving; caregiver gains. One of these, relatively overlooked, caregiver gains is heightened self-esteem. We assessed the predictive ability of non-modifiable (caregiver sociodemographic- and dementia relate...

Background/Objective: Recent interventions aim to heighten informal caregivers’ empathy levels assuming that this will lead to better well-being. However, previous studies have explored linear associations between empathy and aspects of well-being and yielded mixed results. We hypothesized that quadratic models may be more fitting to describe these...

Objective: The majority of meningioma patients suffer from presurgical cognitive deficits. Since meningiomas do not directly damage the brain, this is presumably caused by a functional integrity reduction of the surrounding brain tissue through perilesional edema and/or mass effect of the tumor. Tumor location is a key feature in determining neurol...

Background Many psychosocial and behavioral interventions have been developed for informal dementia caregivers. Because existing meta-analyses only focused on a limited number of interventions and outcomes, how effective these interventions are overall and which interventions components are associated with larger effects has yet to be explored. Ob...

Purpose Stereotactic radiation surgery (SRS) is increasingly applied in patients with brain metastases (BM) and is expected to have fewer adverse effects on cognitive functioning than whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT). Patients with BM are often confronted with a relatively short life expectancy, and the prevention or delay of cognitive decline...

This study examined test-retest reliabilities and (predictors of) practice effects of the widely used computerized neuropsychological battery CNS Vital Signs. The sample consisted of 158 Dutch healthy adults. At 3 and 12 months follow-up, 131 and 77 participants were retested. Results revealed low to high test–retest reliability coefficients for CN...

Object: There is a growing interest to include evaluations of cognitive performance in the clinical management of patients with Glioblastoma (GBM). However, as changes in cognitive performance of a group may mask changes in individual patients, study results are often difficult to transfer into clinical practice. We focused on the comparison of gr...

Many patients with primary brain tumors experience cognitive deficits. Cognitive rehabilitation programs focus on alleviating these deficits, but availability of such programs is limited. Our large randomized controlled trial (RCT) demonstrated positive effects of the cognitive rehabilitation program developed by our group. We converted the program...

Subjective Cognitive Complaints (SCC) are common after stroke and adversely affect quality of life. In the present study, we determined the associations of depression, anxiety, perceived stress and fatigue with post-stroke SCC, and whether these associations were independent of objective cognitive functioning, stroke characteristics and individual...

Background: Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) is increasingly applied in patients with multiple brain metastases and is expected to have less adverse effects in cognitive functioning than whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT). Effective treatment with the least negative cognitive side effects is increasingly becoming important, as more patients with...

Measures of heart rate variability (HRV) are sensitive indices of autonomic nervous system functioning, capable of distinguishing activity of its two constituent branches, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. As such, these measures are possibly useful as early markers of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We review the anatomic...

Objective In this pilot study, we investigated the feasibility of a home-based, remotely guided exercise intervention for patients with gliomas. Design Pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) with randomization (2:1) to exercise or control group. Subjects Patients with stable grade II and III gliomas. Intervention The six-month intervention incl...

Background and purpose: Objective cognitive performance (OCP) is often impaired in patients post-stroke but the consequences of OCP for patient-reported subjective cognitive complaints (SCC) are poorly understood. We performed a detailed analysis on the association between post-stroke OCP and SCC. Methods: Assessments of OCP and SCC were obtaine...

This systematic review evaluates relevant findings and methodologic aspects of studies on cognitive functioning in meningioma patients prior to and/or following surgery with or without adjuvant radiotherapy. PubMed and Web of Science electronic databases were searched until December 2015. From 1012 initially identified articles, 11 met the inclusio...

The insula is an essential component of the central autonomic network and plays a critical role in autonomic regulation in response to environmental stressors. The role of the insula in human autonomic regulation has been primarily investigated following cerebrovascular accidents, but interpretation of these findings is complicated by lack of contr...

Subjective cognitive complaints (SCCs) are common after stroke, but detailed information about how SCCs differ between patients with stroke versus stroke-free individuals is not available. We evaluated the prevalence and profile of the 2 SCC components (content and worry) in patients 3 months after stroke versus controls using both a generic and a...

Studies in cancer and noncancer populations demonstrate lower than expected correlations between subjective cognitive symptoms and cognitive functioning as determined by standardized neuropsychological tests. This paper systematically examines the association between subjective and objective cognitive functioning in patients with low-grade glioma a...

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with impairments in cognitive functioning. Although cognitive complaints are related to quality of life, work productivity and health care expenditures, most research and all reviews have focused exclusively on objective cognitive functioning so far. In this systematic review, we assessed the available li...

Cognitive dysfunction is common in patients with primary brain tumors, and may have a major impact on activities of daily living and on quality of life. This is the first prospective study that investigated the incidence and severity of cognitive dysfunction in meningioma patients before and after surgery, and the change in dysfunction over time, b...

Cognitive dysfunction is common in patients with primary brain tumors, and may have a major impact on activities of daily living and on quality of life. This is the first prospective study that investigated the incidence and severity of cognitive dysfunction in meningioma patients before and after surgery, and the change in dysfunction over time, b...

Many patients with gliomas suffer from cognitive deficits. Recent findings indicate that physical exercise is effective in ameliorating cognitive decline, in particular in older adults and select neurological patient populations. Studies of exercise interventions in patients with cancer demonstrated to have beneficial effects on various measures of...

A significant proportion of brain tumour patients has cognitive impairments. Most studies have focussed on patients with glioma. Meningioma patients have been infrequently studied; we found only seven studies in the literature. Most of these studies lack preoperative measurements, a priori limiting conclusions on the impact of surgery on cognition....

Abstract This study focuses on a novel, easy to use and instruction-less method for mental training in athletes. Previous findings suggest that particular mental capacities are needed for achieving peak performance; including attentional control, focus, relaxation and positive affect. Electroencephalography (EEG) alpha brain activity has been assoc...

Neuropsychological follow-up appointments are important for patients who have had intracranial surgery because cognitive deficits are common in this population and prognosis is not always optimistic. Unfortunately some patients cancel or do not show up. The current study attempted to identify predictors of non-attendance in this population. A total...

Previous studies showed that advanced neuroimaging measures (functional MRI, diffusion tensor imaging) could distinguish multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with and without cognitive impairment. Are these measures indeed better indicators for cognitive impairment or subjective cognitive complaints than conventional MRI? Fifty MS patients and 29 contr...

Although many studies have assessed poststroke objective cognitive impairment, only a few have evaluated patients' subjective cognitive complaints (SCC). Although these SCC are found to be common in the early and chronic phases after stroke, knowledge about their risk factors, course over time, differences with healthy controls and their diagnostic...

Most studies to date have assessed poststroke cognitive impairment objectively, whereas less attention is paid to subjective cognitive complaints (SCC). We, therefore, systematically searched the literature to summarize and evaluate the current knowledge about poststroke SCC. Articles were included in this review if the study evaluated SCC in adult...

Background: In many natural audiovisual events (e.g., the sight of a face articulating the syllable /ba/), the visual signal precedes the sound and thus allows observers to predict the onset and the content of the sound. In healthy adults, the N1 component of the event-related brain potential (ERP), reflecting neural activity associated with basic...

Identifying what makes people vulnerable to developing Alzheimer's disease (AD) is at the forefront of many research programmes, while early diagnosis is the goal in clinical practice. What individuals themselves tell their general practitioners (GPs) is clearly important because these subjective complaints may be a clue that something is wrong. Mo...

Research has demonstrated that patients with cancer experience cognitive deficits, often due to aggressive anticancer treatments. In this article, we critically review the interventional studies that have been conducted to investigate beneficial effects on cognitive function in cancer patients. Pharmacological agents that have been studied include...

Fifty healthy participants took part in a double-blind placebo-controlled study in which they were either given auditory alpha brain activity (8-12 Hz) training (N=18), random beta training (N=12), or no training at all (N=20). A novel wireless electrode system was used for training without instructions, involving water-based electrodes mounted in...

Fifty healthy participants took part in a double-blind placebo-controlled study in which they were either given auditory alpha activity (8-12Hz) training (N=18), random beta training (N=12), or no training at all (N=20). A novel wireless electrode system was used for training without instructions, involving water-based electrodes mounted in an audi...

Fifty healthy participants took part in a double-blind placebo-controlled study in which they were either given auditory alpha activity (8–12 Hz) training (N = 18), random beta training (N = 12), or no training at all (N = 20). A novel wireless electrode system was used for training without instructions, involving water-based electrodes mounted in...

Predictors of Neuropsychological Improvement Following Cognitive Rehabilitation in Patients with Gliomas—Erratum - Volume 17 Issue 2 - Karin Gehring, Neil K. Aaronson, Chad M. Gundy, Martin J.B. Taphoorn, Margriet M. Sitskoorn

To enhance functional outcome in schizophrenia improvement of cognitive symptoms is crucial. Using a comprehensive test battery, this follow-up examines cognitive effects in patients with recent-onset schizophrenia after a change of medication following insufficient clinical response and intolerance. After eight weeks cognitive outcomes had not imp...

This study investigated the specific patient factors that predict responsiveness to a cognitive rehabilitation program. The program has previously been demonstrated to be successful at the group level in patients with gliomas, but it is unclear which patient characteristics optimized the effect of the intervention at the individual level. Four cate...

Patients with brain tumors may suffer from cognitive deficits caused by the disease and/or its treatment. Here, we review recent efforts in the research on prevention or treatment of cognitive deficits in these patients. We conclude that interest in this area is growing, but that methodological difficulties persist. In addition, we describe the rec...

Cognitive deficits are a core feature in schizophrenia. Cognitive deficits appear to be present at the onset of schizophrenia and persist after remission of psychotic symptoms. As cognitive deficits are associated with poor functional outcome, they form an important focus of treatment. There are relatively few head-to-head comparisons of the effect...

Background: Deviant brain oscillations are candidate endophenotypes for schizophrenia. Our aim was to find new quantitative trait loci for brain oscillations and putatively schizophrenia. Methods: We systematically investigated the genetic characteristics of theta, alpha, and beta oscillations at frontal, central, and occipital scalp locations in 2...

This study investigated the specific patient factors that predict responsiveness to a cognitive rehabilitation program. The program has previously been demonstrated to be successful at the group level in patients with gliomas, but it is unclear which patient characteristics optimized the effect of the intervention at the individual level. Four cate...

Patients with gliomas often experience cognitive deficits, including problems with attention and memory. This randomized, controlled trial evaluated the effects of a multifaceted cognitive rehabilitation program (CRP) on cognitive functioning and selected quality-of-life domains in patients with gliomas. One hundred forty adult patients with low-gr...

A strategy to improve genetic studies of schizophrenia involves the use of endophenotypes. Information on overlapping genetic contributions among endophenotypes may provide additional power, reveal biological pathways, and have practical implications for genetic research. Several cognitive endophenotypes, including intelligence, are likely to be mo...

Schizophrenia is a highly heritable and complex disorder. Multiple genes are likely to be involved, complicating genetic research into the etiology of this disorder. Intermediate phenotypes or endophenotypes may facilitate genetic research if they display a simpler mode of transmission than schizophrenia itself, i.e., if they reflect more closely t...

Increased life expectancy in patients with brain tumours has led to a greater risk of cognitive deficits, particularly during disease-free periods. Here, we review the empirical studies that have been done to treat or to prevent cognitive impairment in patients with brain tumours. Both pharmacological interventions and cognitive rehabilitation prog...