Deficits in visual-spatial ability can be associated with
Parkinson's disease (PD), and there are several possible reasons
for these deficits. Dysfunction in frontal–striatal and/or
frontal–parietal systems, associated with dopamine deficiency,
might disrupt cognitive processes either supporting (e.g., working
memory) or subserving visual-spatial computations. The goal of this
study was to assess visual–spatial orientation ability in
individuals with PD using the Mental Rotations Test (MRT), along with
other measures of cognitive function. Non-demented men with PD were
significantly less accurate on this test than matched control men. In
contrast, women with PD performed similarly to matched control women,
but both groups of women did not perform much better than chance.
Further, mental rotation accuracy in men correlated with their
executive skills involving mental processing and psychomotor speed. In
women with PD, however, mental rotation accuracy correlated negatively
with verbal memory, indicating that higher mental rotation performance
was associated with lower ability in verbal memory. These results
indicate that PD is associated with visual–spatial orientation
deficits in men. Women with PD and control women both performed poorly
on the MRT, possibly reflecting a floor effect. Although men and women
with PD appear to engage different cognitive processes in this task,
the reason for the sex difference remains to be elucidated.
(JINS, 2003, 9, 1078–1087.)
Spatial Orientation In Sportsmen
