Neuropsychological correlates of alexithymia in Parkinson's disease

2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 980-992 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALBERTO COSTA ◽  
ANTONELLA PEPPE ◽  
GIOVANNI AUGUSTO CARLESIMO ◽  
GIOVANNA SALAMONE ◽  
CARLO CALTAGIRONE
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Brain Dysfunction ◽  
Spatial Processing ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Neuropsychological Correlates ◽  
Tas 20 ◽  
Visual Spatial Processing

There are recent reports that alexithymia may be associated with brain dysfunction involving frontal lobes or right hemisphere regions. However, little is known about the relationship between alexithymia and cognitive deficits in Parkinson's disease (PD). The authors investigated the neuropsychological correlates of alexithymia in a population of 70 nondemented PD patients and 70 controls. Alexithymia was screened using the 20-item version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Standardized scales that measure verbal episodic memory, executive functions, abstract reasoning, and visual–spatial and language abilities were adopted. PD patients with alexithymia performed worse than both PD patients without alexithymia and controls with or without alexithymia on tasks requiring visual–spatial processing. Moreover, regression analyses showed that, in PD patients, but not in controls, poor performance on a constructional praxis task predicted high scores on the TAS-20 subscale, which assesses difficulty in identifying emotions. These data evidence an association between alexithymia and visual–spatial processing alterations in PD patients, supporting the view that the right hemisphere could be specifically involved in the modulation of some facets of alexithymia. (JINS, 2007, 13, 980–992.)

Analyses of Visuospatial and Visuoperceptual Errors as Predictors of Dementia in Parkinson’s Disease Patients with Subjective Cognitive Decline and Mild Cognitive Impairment

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Iván Galtier ◽  
Antonieta Nieto ◽  
María Mata ◽  
Jesús N. Lorenzo ◽  
José Barroso
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Subjective Cognitive Decline ◽  
Independent Risk Factors

ABSTRACT Objective: Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in Parkinson’s disease (PD) are considered as the risk factors for dementia (PDD). Posterior cortically based functions, such as visuospatial and visuoperceptual (VS-VP) processing, have been described as predictors of PDD. However, no investigations have focused on the qualitative analysis of the Judgment of Line Orientation Test (JLOT) and the Facial Recognition Test (FRT) in PD-SCD and PD-MCI. The aim of this work was to study the VS-VP errors in JLOT and FRT. Moreover, these variables are considered as predictors of PDD. Method: Forty-two PD patients and 19 controls were evaluated with a neuropsychological protocol. Patients were classified as PD-SCD and PD-MCI. Analyses of errors were conducted following the procedure described by Ska, Poissant, and Joanette (1990). Follow-up assessment was conducted to a mean of 7.5 years after the baseline. Results: PD-MCI patients showed a poor performance in JLOT and FRT total score and made a greater proportion of severe intraquadrant (QO2) and interquadrant errors (IQO). PD-SCD showed a poor performance in FRT and made mild errors in JLOT. PD-MCI and QO2/IQO errors were independent risk factors for PDD during the follow-up. Moreover, the combination of both PD-MCI diagnosis and QO2/IQO errors was associated with a greater risk. Conclusions: PD-MCI patients presented a greater alteration in VS-VP processing observable by the presence of severe misjudgments. PD-SCD patients also showed mild difficulties in VS-SP functions. Finally, QO2/IQO errors in PD-MCI are a useful predictor of PDD, more than PD-MCI diagnosis alone.

Neuropsychological correlates of prospective memory: A comparison between tremor-dominant Parkinson’s disease and cervical dystonia

2021 ◽  
Vol 87 ◽  
pp. 156-161
Author(s):  
Alfonsina D'Iorio ◽  
Marcello Esposito ◽  
Gianpaolo Maggi ◽  
Marianna Amboni ◽  
Carmine Vitale ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Prospective Memory ◽  
Cervical Dystonia ◽  
Neuropsychological Correlates

scholarly journals The impact of cognitive performance on quality of life in individuals with Parkinson's disease

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 303-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maira Rozenfeld Olchik ◽  
Annelise Ayres ◽  
Marcieli Ghisi ◽  
Artur Francisco Schumacher Schuh ◽  
Carlos Roberto Mello Rieder
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Cognitive Testing ◽  
Cognitive Tests ◽  
Patient Consent ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT Background: Evidence points to the occurrence of cognitive impairment in all stages of PD, constituting a frequent and debilitating symptom, due to high impact on quality of life and mortality of patients. Objective: To correlate cognitive performance with quality of life in PD. Methods: The sample was drawn from a Movement Disorders Clinic of a reference hospital in Porto Alegre. Inclusion criteria were: PD diagnosis, according to the United Kingdom Parkinson's Disease Society Brain Bank criteria for idiopathic PD (Hughes et al. 1992) and patient consent to participate. Patients with other neurological pathologies and those submitted to deep brain stimulation were excluded. The evaluation consisted of a cognitive testing battery (composed of eight tests for assessing cognitive performance), and a questionnaire on quality of life (PDQ-39) and depression (BDI). Results: The sample comprised 85 individuals with PD, with a mean age of 62.9 years (±10.7), mean disease duration of 10.4 years (±5.7), and mean educational level of four years (±4.3). There was a significant relationship between total score on the PDQ and all cognitive tests, showing that poor cognitive performance was correlated with poor quality of life. Moreover, a significant correlation was observed between cognitive tests and depression, H&Y, education level, and age. Conclusion: It may be concluded that the individuals with PD in this sample showed a correlation between poorer quality of life and worse cognitive performance. Poor performance was also correlated with more advanced stage, older age, low level of education and depression.

scholarly journals Region-Specific Neurovascular Decoupling Associated With Cognitive Decline in Parkinson’s Disease

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Song’an Shang ◽  
Hongying Zhang ◽  
Yuan Feng ◽  
Jingtao Wu ◽  
Weiqiang Dou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Cognitive Deficits ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Neurovascular Coupling ◽  
Angular Gyrus ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
The Right

Background: Cognitive deficits are prominent non-motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and have been shown to involve the neurovascular unit (NVU). However, there is a lack of sufficient neuroimaging research on the associated modulating mechanisms. The objective of this study was to identify the contribution of neurovascular decoupling to the pathogenesis of cognitive decline in PD.Methods: Regional homogeneity (ReHo), a measure of neuronal activity, and cerebral blood flow (CBF), a measure of vascular responses, were obtained from patients with PD with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and normal cognition (NC) as well as matched healthy controls (HCs). Imaging metrics of neurovascular coupling (global and regional CBF-ReHo correlation coefficients and CBF-ReHo ratios) were compared among the groups.Results: Neurovascular coupling was impaired in patients with PD-MCI with a decreased global CBF-ReHo correlation coefficient relative to HC subjects (P < 0.05). Regional dysregulation was specific to the PD-MCI group and localized to the right middle frontal gyrus, right middle cingulate cortex, right middle occipital gyrus, right inferior parietal gyrus, right supramarginal gyrus, and right angular gyrus (P < 0.05). Compared with HC subjects, patients with PD-MCI showed higher CBF-ReHo ratios in the bilateral lingual gyri (LG), bilateral putamen, and left postcentral gyrus and lower CBF-ReHo ratios in the right superior temporal gyrus, bilateral middle temporal gyri, bilateral parahippocampal gyri, and right inferior frontal gyrus. Relative to the HC and PD-NC groups, the PD-MCI group showed an increased CBF-ReHo ratio in the left LG, which was correlated with poor visual–spatial performance (r = −0.36 and P = 0.014).Conclusion: The involvement of neurovascular decoupling in cognitive impairment in PD is regionally specific and most prominent in the visual–spatial cortices, which could potentially provide a complementary understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying cognitive deficits in PD.

scholarly journals Alexithymia and Apathy in Parkinson’s Disease: Neurocognitive Correlates

2013 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 535-545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yelena Bogdanova ◽  
Alice Cronin-Golomb
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Neuropsychological Tests ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Rating Scales ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Neuropsychiatric Symptoms ◽  
Disease Stage ◽  
Motor Symptoms ◽  
Non Motor Symptoms

Non-motor symptoms such as neuropsychiatric and cognitive dysfunction have been found to be common in Parkinson’s disease (PD) but the relation between such symptoms is poorly understood. We focused on alexithymia, an impairment of affective and cognitive emotional processing, as there is evidence for its interaction with cognition in other disorders. Twenty-two non-demented PD patients and 22 matched normal control adults (NC) were administered rating scales assessing neuropsychiatric status, including alexithymia, apathy, and depression, and a series of neuropsychological tests. As expected, PD patients showed more alexithymia than NC, and there was a significant association between alexithymia and disease stage. Alexithymia was associated with performance on non-verbally mediated measures of executive and visuospatial function, but not on verbally mediated tasks. By contrast, there was no correlation between cognition and ratings of either depression or apathy. Our findings demonstrate a distinct association of alexithymia with non-verbal cognition in PD, implicating right hemisphere processes, and differentiate between alexithymia and other neuropsychiatric symptoms in regard to PD cognition.

scholarly journals DailyCog: A Real-World Functional Cognitive Mobile Application for Evaluating Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) in Parkinson’s Disease

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 1788
Author(s):  
Sara Rosenblum ◽  
Ariella Richardson ◽  
Sonya Meyer ◽  
Tal Nevo ◽  
Maayan Sinai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Neurodegenerative Disorder ◽  
Smartphone Application ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Substantial Impact ◽  
Patient Functioning ◽  
Visual Spatial

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common progressive neurodegenerative disorder affecting patient functioning and quality of life. Aside from the motor symptoms of PD, cognitive impairment may occur at early stages of PD and has a substantial impact on patient emotional and physical health. Detecting these early signs through actual daily functioning while the patient is still functionally independent is challenging. We developed DailyCog—a smartphone application for the detection of mild cognitive impairment. DailyCog includes an environment that simulates daily tasks, such as making a drink and shopping, as well as a self-report questionnaire related to daily events performed at home requiring executive functions and visual–spatial abilities, and psychomotor speed. We present the detailed design of DailyCog and discuss various considerations that influenced the design. We tested DailyCog on patients with mild cognitive impairment in PD. Our case study demonstrates how the markers we used coincide with the cognitive levels of the users. We present the outcome of our usability study that found that most users were able to use our app with ease, and provide details on how various features were used, along with some of the difficulties that were identified.

Theory of mind and executive functions in normal human aging and Parkinson's disease

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 781-788 ◽  
Author(s):  
JENNIFER SALTZMAN ◽  
ESTHER STRAUSS ◽  
MICHAEL HUNTER ◽  
SARAH ARCHIBALD
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Human Aging ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Normal Human ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Although the majority of research in theory of mind (TOM) has focused on young children or individuals with autism, recent investigations have begun to look at TOM throughout the lifespan and in other neurological and psychiatric populations. Some have suggested that TOM may represent a dissociable, modular brain system that is related to, but separable, from other brain functions including executive functions (EF). Recently, studies have shown that TOM performance can be compromised following an acquired brain insult (e.g, damage to the right hemisphere). However, the relationship of such impaired TOM performance to other brain functions in these cases has not been explored. This study investigated the effects of both normal human aging and Parkinson's disease on TOM. The relationship of TOM performance and EF in these groups was also examined. The results suggested that although TOM performance appeared compromised in the group of individuals with Parkinson's disease, the elderly control participants were relatively unimpaired relative to younger individuals. Significant relationships between several measures of TOM and EF were also found. The implications of these findings, and also the finding that failure on one measure of TOM did not necessarily predict failure on all measures of TOM, are discussed. (JINS, 2000, 6, 781–788.)

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