Cognition and communication in patients with spinal muscular atrophy: A systematic review

•Synthesizes evidence from 12 studies on cognitive and communicative impacts in SMA, focusing on nuanced functional outcomes.•Highlights cognitive variability in SMA1, revealing subtle challenges in SMA2 and 3, and stresses tailored assessment methodologies.•Identifies communication barriers in SMA, emphasizing the urgency of investigating their potential interplay with cognitive functions.•Stresses integrating cognitive and communicative assessments into SMA management, to enhanceunderstanding of treatment impacts.•Calls for standardized, sensitive tools to evaluate cognition and communication, ensuring consistent assessments across SMA phenotypes.