Executive Functions in Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract The objective of this study was to investigate executive functions (EFs) in older adults with Parkinson’s disease (PD). It was a cross-sectional and comparative study, composed of 62 participants divided into PD group (n = 31; M age = 75.26; SD age = 7.26) and control group (n = 31; M age = 74.03; SD age = 6.95), aged 61 to 93 years, recruited for convenience in 5 cities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The instruments used were a sociodemographic data questionnaire; MMSE; GDS-15; BIS-11; verbal fluency tasks (FAS and animals), DEX; WCST-64 and FDT. Descriptive analyzes and Student’s t and Chi-square tests were used. The PD group had a lower performance in the WCST-64 and FDT tests compared to controls, indicating worse performance in tasks that required reasoning, cognitive flexibility and processing speed, in addition, showed difficulties in performing tasks that require EF (DEX).

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Urinary symptoms in Parkinson's disease: prevalence and associated factors

Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria ◽

10.1590/s0004-282x2003000300007 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 61 (2B) ◽

pp. 359-363 ◽

Cited By ~ 84

Author(s):

Raimundo Nonato Campos-Sousa ◽

Elizabeth Quagliato ◽

Benedito Borges da Silva ◽

Reynaldo Mendes de Carvalho Jr. ◽

Suilane Coelho Ribeiro ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Urinary Dysfunction ◽

Urinary Symptoms ◽

Control Group ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Urinary Tract Symptoms ◽

And Control

The authors present a cross-sectional study involving 61 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) who were consecutively examined and compared to a control group with 74 subjects. Only patients who fulfilled the standard diagnostic criteria for PD and whose brain magnetic resonance imaging was normal were included. The objective of the study was to evaluate the prevalence of inferior urinary tract symptoms in PD and to study the possible association between clinical factors to urinary dysfunction. ln the patient group, 39.3% presented urinary symptoms when compared to 10.8% in the control group. All symptomatic patients presented irritative symptoms. The most common irritative symptom PD was nocturia, followed by frequency and urinary incontinence. Around 25% of the patients presented functional obstructive symptoms determined by the disease. The most frequent obstructive symptom was incomplete emptying of the bladder. Only the age of the patients and control group were correlated with urinary dysfunction.

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Study of cognitive impairment and genetic polymorphism of SLC41A1 (rs11240569 allele) in Parkinson’s disease in Upper Egypt: case-control study

The Egyptian Journal of Neurology Psychiatry and Neurosurgery ◽

10.1186/s41983-021-00341-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 57 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Hamdy N. El-Tallawy ◽

Tahia H. Saleem ◽

Wafaa M. Farghaly ◽

Heba Mohamed Saad Eldien ◽

Ashraf Khodaery ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Case Control Study ◽

Case Control ◽

Control Group ◽

Motor Symptoms ◽

And Control ◽

Non Motor Symptoms ◽

Control Study

Abstract Background Parkinson’s disease is one of the neurodegenerative disorders that is caused by genetic and environmental factors or interaction between them. Solute carrier family 41 member 1 within the PARK16 locus has been reported to be associated with Parkinson’s disease. Cognitive impairment is one of the non-motor symptoms that is considered a challenge in Parkinson’s disease patients. This study aimed to investigate the association of rs11240569 polymorphism; a synonymous coding variant in SLC41A1 in Parkinson’s disease patients in addition to the assessment of cognitive impairment in those patients. Results In a case -control study, rs11240569 single nucleotide polymorphisms in SLC41A1, genes were genotyped in 48 Parkinson’s disease patients and 48 controls. Motor and non-motor performance in Parkinson's disease patients were assessed by using the Movement Disorder Society-Sponsored Revision of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS). The genotype and allele frequencies were compared between the two groups and revealed no significant differences between case and control groups for rs11240569 in SLC41A1 gene with P value .523 and .54, respectively. Cognition was evaluated and showed the mean ± standard deviation (SD) of WAIS score of PD patients 80.4 ± 9.13 and the range was from 61 to 105, in addition to MMSE that showed mean ± SD 21.96 ± 3.8. Conclusion Genetic testing of the present study showed that rs11240569 polymorphism of SLC41A1 gene has no significant differences in distributions of alleles and genotypes between cases and control group, in addition to cognitive impairment that is present in a large proportion of PD patients and in addition to the strong correlation between cognitive impairment and motor and non-motor symptoms progression.

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Validation of Cognitive Rehabilitation as a Balance Rehabilitation Strategy in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease: Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

Medicina ◽

10.3390/medicina57040314 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 57 (4) ◽

pp. 314

Author(s):

Aida Arroyo-Ferrer ◽

Francisco José Sánchez-Cuesta ◽

Yeray González-Zamorano ◽

María Dolores del Castillo ◽

Carolina Sastre-Barrios ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Cognitive Therapy ◽

Cognitive Processing ◽

Processing Speed ◽

Cognitive Rehabilitation ◽

Neurodegenerative Disorder ◽

Control Group ◽

Motor Symptoms ◽

The Impact

Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder. This disease is characterized by motor symptoms, such as bradykinesia, tremor, and rigidity. Although balance impairment is characteristic of advanced stages, it can be present with less intensity since the beginning of the disease. Approximately 60% of PD patients fall once a year and 40% recurrently. On the other hand, cognitive symptoms affect up to 20% of patients with PD in early stages and can even precede the onset of motor symptoms. There are cognitive requirements for balance and can be challenged when attention is diverted or reduced, linking a worse balance and a higher probability of falls with a slower cognitive processing speed and attentional problems. Cognitive rehabilitation of attention and processing speed can lead to an improvement in postural stability in patients with Parkinson’s. Methods: We present a parallel and controlled randomized clinical trial (RCT) to assess the impact on balance of a protocol based on cognitive rehabilitation focused on sustained attention through the NeuronUP platform (Neuronup SI, La Rioja, Spain) in patients with PD. For 4 weeks, patients in the experimental group will receive cognitive therapy three days a week while the control group will not receive any therapy. The protocol has been registered at trials.gov NCT04730466. Conclusions: Cognitive therapy efficacy on balance improvement may open the possibility of new rehabilitation strategies for prevention of falls in PD, reducing morbidity, and saving costs to the health care system.

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Verbal fluency in categories of common and proper names in the phase of mild cognitive impairment in the course of Parkinson’s disease

Interdyscyplinarne Konteksty Pedagogiki Specjalnej ◽

10.14746/ikps.2019.27.12 ◽

1970 ◽

Author(s):

Renata Gliwa

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽

Executive Functions ◽

Verbal Fluency ◽

Proper Names ◽

Test Group ◽

Progressive Decrease ◽

Test Result

Renata Gliwa, Verbal fluency in categories of common and proper names in the phase of mild cognitive impairment in the course of Parkinson’s disease. Interdisciplinary Contexts of Special Pedagogy, no. 27, Poznań 2019. Pp. 249–272. Adam Mickiewicz University Press. ISSN 2300-391X. e-ISSN 2658-283X. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14746/ikps.2019.27.12 The article is devoted to consideration of verbal fluency in MCI-PD. The VF test allows for the detection of dysfunctions within linguistic processes, semantic memory and dysfunctions of executive functions already in the early stages of Parkinson’sdisease. The article compares the results of verbal fluency tests in selected categories of proper names and common names, and assesses the effect of the MCIPD stage on the test result. The comparison of the test group results with various degrees of MCI indicates a progressive decrease in verbal fluency. The experiment showed different profiles of the verbal task in terms of common and proper names.

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The relationship between executive functions and fluid intelligence in Parkinson's disease

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291712000451 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 42 (11) ◽

pp. 2445-2452 ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

M. Roca ◽

F. Manes ◽

A. Chade ◽

E. Gleichgerrcht ◽

O. Gershanik ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Theory Of Mind ◽

Verbal Fluency ◽

Fluid Intelligence ◽

Group Performance ◽

Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ◽

Card Sorting ◽

Sorting Test ◽

And Control

BackgroundWe recently demonstrated that decline in fluid intelligence is a substantial contributor to frontal deficits. For some classical ‘executive’ tasks, such as the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and Verbal Fluency, frontal deficits were entirely explained by fluid intelligence. However, on a second set of frontal tasks, deficits remained even after statistically controlling for this factor. These tasks included tests of theory of mind and multitasking. As frontal dysfunction is the most frequent cognitive deficit observed in early Parkinson's disease (PD), the present study aimed to determine the role of fluid intelligence in such deficits.MethodWe assessed patients with PD (n=32) and control subjects (n=22) with the aforementioned frontal tests and with a test of fluid intelligence. Group performance was compared and fluid intelligence was introduced as a covariate to determine its role in frontal deficits shown by PD patients.ResultsIn line with our previous results, scores on the WCST and Verbal Fluency were closely linked to fluid intelligence. Significant patient–control differences were eliminated or at least substantially reduced once fluid intelligence was introduced as a covariate. However, for tasks of theory of mind and multitasking, deficits remained even after fluid intelligence was statistically controlled.ConclusionsThe present results suggest that clinical assessment of neuropsychological deficits in PD should include tests of fluid intelligence, together with one or more specific tasks that allow for the assessment of residual frontal deficits associated with theory of mind and multitasking.

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Evaluation of quality of life and psychological aspects of Parkinson's disease patients who participate in a support group

Dementia & Neuropsychologia ◽

10.1590/1980-57642015dn93000013 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 295-300 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Nathalie Ribeiro Artigas ◽

Vera Lúcia Widniczck Striebel ◽

Arlete Hilbig ◽

Carlos Roberto de Mello Rieder

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Social Phobia ◽

Support Group ◽

Neurodegenerative Disorder ◽

Control Group ◽

Asymmetric Distribution ◽

Cross Sectional

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that can dramatically impair patient quality of life (QoL). Objective: To analyze the QoL, motor capacity, depression, anxiety and social phobia of individuals who attended a patient support group (PSG) compared to non-participants. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed. The sample consisted of 20 individuals with PD who attended a PSG and another 20 PD patients who did not attend a support group for PD patients, serving as the control group (nPSG). All patients answered questionnaires on motor capacity (UPDRS), QoL (Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire- PDQ-39), depression (Beck Depression Inventory), anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory) and social phobia (Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale). To determine data distribution, the Shapiro-Wilk test was performed. For comparison of means, Student's t-test was applied. In cases of asymmetry, the Mann-Whitney test was employed. To assess the association between the scales, Pearson's correlation coefficient (symmetric distribution) and Spearman's coefficient (asymmetric distribution) were applied. For the association between qualitative variables, Pearson's Chi-squared test was performed. A significance level of 5% (p≤0.05) was adopted. Results: Individuals in the PSG had a significantly better QoL (p=0.002), and lower depression (p=0.026), anxiety (p<0.001) and social phobia (p=0.01) scores compared to the nPSG. Conclusion: The participation of PD patients in social activities such as support groups is associated with better QoL and fewer symptoms of depression, anxiety and social phobia.

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Polyomic Analyses of Dopaminergic Neurons Isolated From Human Substantia Nigra in Parkinson’s Disease: An Exploratory Study.

10.21203/rs.3.rs-182873/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Affif ZACCARIA ◽

Paola Antinori Malaspina ◽

Virginie Licker ◽

Enikö Kovari ◽

Johannes A Lobrinus ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Substantia Nigra ◽

Protein Expression ◽

Differential Expression ◽

Exploratory Study ◽

Substantia Nigra Pars Compacta ◽

Control Group ◽

Gene And Protein Expression ◽

And Control

Abstract Background Dopaminergic (DA) neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) selectively and progressively degenerate in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Until now, molecular analyses of DA neurons in PD have been limited to genomic and transcriptomic approaches, whereas, to the best of our knowledge, no proteomic or combined polyomic study examining the protein profile of these neurons, is currently available. Methods In this exploratory study, we used laser microdissection to extract DA neurons from 10 human SNpc samples obtained at autopsy in PD patients and control subjects. Extracted RNA and proteins were identified by RNA sequencing and nano-LC-MS/MS, respectively, and the differential expression between the PD and control group was assessed. Results Qualitative analyses confirmed that the microdissection protocol preserves the integrity of our samples and offers access to specific molecular pathways. This polyomic analysis highlighted differential expression of 52 genes and 33 proteins, including molecules of interest already known to be dysregulated in PD, such as LRP2, PNMT, CXCR4, MAOA and CBLN1 genes, or the Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 protein. On the other hand, despite the same samples were used for both analyses, correlation between RNA and protein expression was low, as exemplified by the CST3 gene encoding for the cystatin C protein. Conclusion This is the first exploratory study analyzing both gene and protein expression of LMD-dissected DA neurons from SNpc in PD. Although correlation between RNA and protein expressions was limited, this polyomic study provides an extensive and integrated overview of molecular changes identified in the PD SNpc and may offer novel insights into specific pathological processes at work in PD degeneration.

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Feasibility of a Brazilian samba protocol for patients with Parkinson's disease: a clinical non-randomized study

Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria ◽

10.1590/0004-282x20190140 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 78 (1) ◽

pp. 13-20 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ana Cristina TILLMANN ◽

Alessandra SWAROWSKY ◽

Clynton Lourenço CORRÊA ◽

Alexandro ANDRADE ◽

Jéssica MORATELLI ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Randomized Study ◽

General Information ◽

Control Group ◽

Action Strategies ◽

And Control ◽

Experimental Group

Abstract Background: New protocols applied in the rehabilitation of Parkinson's disease enable different action strategies for health professionals, as well as a new range of activities for these individuals. However, no valid samba protocol with activity prescription for this population was found in the literature. Objective: To investigate the feasibility of a Brazilian samba protocol in individuals with Parkinson's disease. Methods: Twenty participants, mean age of 66.4±10.7 years, diagnosed with idiopathic Parkinson 's disease, divided into: experimental group that received the intervention of Brazilian samba dance classes (10 individuals); and control group that maintained their routine activities (10 individuals). For data collection, a divided questionnaire was used: General Information; Disability stages scale; Balance and Quality of Life. Results: During class implementation, there were no falls, as all dance activities adhered to the details of the protocol steps without any changes. On average, patients completed 82.7% of activities. After 12 weeks, the experimental group had improvements in the UPDRS global score, in daily activities, and on motor examination. There was also improvement in balance scores and in the mobility domain of the quality of life in the experimental group. Conclusion: The samba protocol seems to be feasible and safe for patients with PD. Moreover, it has pleasant characteristics and offers sufficient physical benefits for combination with drug treatment. There were also benefits in social relationships and as a possible rehabilitation tool in individuals with Parkinson's disease.

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Information Content and Efficiency in the Spoken Discourse of Individuals With Parkinson's Disease

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2018_jslhr-l-17-0338 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 61 (9) ◽

pp. 2259-2274 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Angela Roberts ◽

Danielle Post

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Information Content ◽

Speech Intelligibility ◽

Rating Scale ◽

Control Group ◽

Primary Analysis ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Severity Scores ◽

Global Cognition

Purpose This study compared the information content and information efficiency of spoken language in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) to a healthy comparator group. Method Nineteen participants with PD and 19 healthy older adults completed the prospective, cross-sectional study. In the primary analysis, 2 language samples elicited by standardized protocols were analyzed for group differences using standard discourse informativeness measures including main events (MEs; Wright, Capilouto, Wagovich, Cranfill, & Davis, 2005) analyzed as %MEs and correct information units (CIUs; Nicholas & Brookshire, 1993) analyzed as %CIUs and CIUs/min. In exploratory analyses, the following were examined: (a) associations among conceptual (%MEs) and lexical (%CIUs and CIUs/min) measures and (b) associations among informativeness measures and age, education, disease severity/duration, global cognition, speech intelligibility, and a verb confrontation naming measure. Results In the primary analysis, the PD group differed significantly from the control group on conceptual (%MEs) and lexical measures of content (%CIUs) and efficiency (CIUs/min). In exploratory analyses, for the control group %MEs were significantly correlated with CIUs/min. Significant associations among conceptual and lexical measures of informativeness were not found in the PD group. For controls, there were no significant correlations between informativeness measures and any of the demographic or speech/cognitive/language variables. In the PD group, there was a significant and positive association between CIUs/min and Dementia Rating Scale–Second Edition scores (Mattis, 2001). A significant but negative correlation was found between CIUs/min and motor severity scores. However, %MEs and verb naming were significantly and positively correlated. Conclusions Individuals with PD without dementia demonstrated reduced discourse informativeness that reflects disruptions to both conceptual and lexical discourse processes. In exploratory analyses, reduced efficiency of information content was associated with global cognition and motor severity. Clinical and research implications are discussed within a Cognitivist framework of discourse production (Sheratt, 2007).

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Predictors of Loss of Functional Independence in Parkinson’s Disease: Results from the COPPADIS Cohort at 2-Year Follow-Up and Comparison with a Control Group

Diagnostics ◽

10.3390/diagnostics11101801 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (10) ◽

pp. 1801

Author(s):

Diego Santos García ◽

Teresa de Deus Fonticoba ◽

Carlos Cores Bartolomé ◽

Lucía Naya Ríos ◽

Lucía García Roca ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Activities Of Daily Living ◽

Daily Living ◽

Functional Independence ◽

Control Group ◽

Lemeshow Test ◽

Group A ◽

And Control

Background and objective: The aim of this study was to compare the progression of independence in activities of daily living (ADL) in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients versus a control group, as well as to identify predictors of disability progression and functional dependency (FD). Patients and Methods: PD patients and control subjects, who were recruited from 35 centers of Spain from the COPPADIS cohort between January 2016 and November 2017 (V0), were included. Patients and subjects were then evaluated again at the 2-year follow-up (V2). Disability was assessed with the Schwab & England Activities of Daily Living Scale (S&E-ADLS) at V0 and V2. FD was defined as an S&E-ADLS score less than 80%. Results: In the PD group, a significant decrease in the S&E-ADLS score from V0 to V2 (N = 507; from 88.58 ± 10.19 to 84.26 ± 13.38; p < 0.0001; Cohen’s effect size = −0.519) was observed but not in controls (N = 124; from 98.87 ± 6.52 to 99.52 ± 2.15; p = 0.238). When only patients considered functional independent at baseline were included, 55 out of 463 (11.9%) converted to functional dependent at V2. To be a female (OR = 2.908; p = 0.009), have longer disease duration (OR = 1.152; p = 0.002), have a non-tremoric motor phenotype at baseline (OR = 3.574; p = 0.004), have a higher score at baseline in FOGQ (OR = 1.244; p < 0.0001) and BDI-II (OR = 1.080; p = 0.008), have a lower score at baseline in PD-CRS (OR = 0.963; p = 0.008), and have a greater increase in the score from V0 to V2 in UPDRS-IV (OR = 1.168; p = 0.0.29), FOGQ (OR = 1.348; p < 0.0001) and VAFS-Mental (OR = 1.177; p = 0.013) (adjusted R-squared 0.52; Hosmer and Lemeshow test = 0.94) were all found to be independent predictors of FD at V2. Conclusions: In conclusion, autonomy for ADL worsens in PD patients compared to controls. Cognitive impairment, gait problems, fatigue, depressive symptoms, more advanced disease, and a non-tremor phenotype are independent predictors of FD in the short-term.

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