ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: In his description of the disease in his original work, James Parkinson claimed that the 'senses remained intact', but later reports began to identify cognitive impairment that ranged from dementia to barely identifiable subclinical deteriorations. Research carried out in recent decades has revealed that cognitive disorders form part of the clinical symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) and point to the frontal lobes as being the most affected areas; a great deal of controversy, however, still surrounds their definition, epidemiology and pathology. AIM: To determine and classify the frontal deficits associated to this disease and to relate this cognitive performance with certain characteristics of the disease. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The sample utilised in the study was made up of 222 subjects divided into two groups according to their diagnosis: 111 subjects with idiopathic PD and 111 control subjects. The neuropsychological examination was performed using the Frontal Assessment Battery, the copy of the Rey-Osterrieth complex figure and the digit test for determining frontal functioning. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: We prove the existence of a frontal dysfunction that is characterised by impaired working memory, with visuospatial and executive dysfunction, which suggests greater involvement of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and cingulate. According to our findings, because working memory and visuospatial functioning are correlated to the motor status and the time elapsed since the onset of the disease, they could share the same underlying neuroanatomical foundations--the nigrostriatal denervation. This is not the case of executive function, which was not found to be related to the characteristics of the disease under study.
Subject(s)
Cognition Disorders/physiopathology , Dementia/physiopathology , Frontal Lobe/physiology , Parkinson Disease/physiopathology , Female , Humans , Male , Neuropsychological Tests , Psychomotor Performance , Space Perception/physiologyABSTRACT
In his description of the disease in his original work, James Parkinson claimed that the 'senses remained intact', but later reports began to identify cognitive impairment that ranged from dementia to barely identifiable subclinical deteriorations. Research carried out in recent decades has revealed that cognitive disorders form part of the clinical symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) and point to the frontal lobes as being the most affected areas; a great deal of controversy, however, still surrounds their definition, epidemiology and pathology. AIM: To determine and classify the frontal deficits associated to this disease and to relate this cognitive performance with certain characteristics of the disease. The sample utilised in the study was made up of 222 subjects divided into two groups according to their diagnosis: 111 subjects with idiopathic PD and 111 control subjects. The neuropsychological examination was performed using the Frontal Assessment Battery, the copy of the Rey-Osterrieth complex figure and the digit test for determining frontal functioning. We prove the existence of a frontal dysfunction that is characterised by impaired working memory, with visuospatial and executive dysfunction, which suggests greater involvement of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and cingulate. According to our findings, because working memory and visuospatial functioning are correlated to the motor status and the time elapsed since the onset of the disease, they could share the same underlying neuroanatomical foundations--the nigrostriatal denervation. This is not the case of executive function, which was not found to be related to the characteristics of the disease under study(AU)
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Cognition Disorders/physiopathology , Dementia/physiopathology , Frontal Lobe/physiology , Parkinson Disease/physiopathologyABSTRACT
Introducción. Al describir la enfermedad, James Parkinson planteó en su obra original que los sentidos permanecían indemnes, pero descripciones posteriores comenzaron a identificar el deterioro cognitivo, que abarcaba desde una demencia hasta deterioros subclínicos apenas identificables. Las investigaciones realizadas en las últimas décadas han revelado que los trastornos cognitivos forman parte de la sintomatología clínica de la enfermedad de Parkinson (EP) y señalan a los lóbulos frontales como los más afectados; pero todavía es controvertida su definición, epidemiología y patología. Objetivo. Determinar y caracterizar los déficit frontales asociados a esta enfermedad y relacionar este rendimiento cognitivo con algunas características de la enfermedad. Sujetos y métodos. La muestra utilizada estaba compuesta por 222sujetos, divididos en dos grupos en función de su diagnóstico: 111 sujetos con EP idiopática y 111 sujetos controles. La exploración neuropsicológica se constituyó por la batería de evaluación frontal(FAB), la copia de la figura compleja del Rey-Osterrieth y el test de dígitos para determinar la función frontal. Resultados y conclusiones. Se demuestra una disfunción frontal que se caracteriza por disminución de la memoria de trabajo, disfunción visuoespacial y ejecutiva, lo que sugiere una mayor afectación de la corteza prefrontaldorsolateral y cingulada. Según nuestros resultados, la memoria de trabajo y la función visuoespacial, al correlacionarse con el estado motor y el tiempo de evolución de la enfermedad, podrían compartir un mismo sustrato neuroanatómico, la denervación nigroestriatal. No así la función ejecutiva, que no se relacionó con las características de la enfermedad estudiada (AU)
Introduction. In his description of the disease in his original work, James Parkinson claimed that the 'senses remained intact', but later reports began to identify cognitive impairment that ranged from dementia to barely identifiable subclinical deteriorations. Research carried out in recent decades has revealed that cognitive disorders form part of the clinical symptoms of Parkinsons disease (PD) and point to the frontal lobes as being the most affected areas; a great deal of controversy, however, still surrounds their definition, epidemiology and pathology. Aim. To determine and classify the frontal deficits associated to this disease and to relate this cognitive performance with certain characteristics of the disease. Subjects and methods. The sample utilised in the study was made up of 222 subjects divided into two groups according to their diagnosis: 111 subjects with idiopathic PD and 111 control subjects. The neuropsychological examination was performed using the Frontal Assessment Battery, the copy of the Rey-Osterrieth complex figure and the digit test for determining frontal functioning. Results and conclusions. We prove the existence of a frontal dysfunction that is characterised by impaired working memory, with visuospatial and executive dysfunction, which suggests greater involvement of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and cingulate. According to our findings, because working memory and visuospatial functioning are correlated to the motor status and the time elapsed since the onset of the disease, they could share the same underlying neuroanatomical foundations the nigrostriatal denervation. This is not the case of executive function, which was not found to be related to the characteristics of the disease under study (AU)
