Assessment methods and indicators

The participants were evaluated at two time points: before enrolment (pre) and after the fourth week of treatment (post). Each participant’s assessments were conducted on the same day. The evaluation indicators included the following: (1) Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE): The overall cognitive function of patients with WD-related cognitive impairment was evaluated with the MMSE (Li et al., 2016), with a total possible score of 30 points. Higher scores indicate better overall cognitive function. (2) Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA): The MoCA (Hsu et al., 2015), which includes 11 items, including the alternative connection test, visual space and executive function (cube, clock), naming, memory, attention, sentence repetition, word fluency, abstraction, delayed recall and orientation, was used to assess the overall cognitive level of patients. The evaluation was completed by the doctors in charge of the neurology department, and the total scores before and after treatment were compared. (3) Specific cognitive domain function assessment: Different scales were used to assess the cognitive domain impairment of subjects in four specific areas. The Auditory Verbal Learning test (AVLT; Guo et al., 2009) was used to assess memory, the Boston Naming Test (BNT; Madore et al., 2022) was used to assess language function, the Clock Drawing Test (CDT; Suzuki et al., 2019) was used to assess visuospatial ability, and the Trail Making Test (TMT, A + B; Guo, 2022) was used to assess executive function.