Frontal lobe dysfunctions in Parkinson's disease.
- Author:
Yang Eui HONG
1
;
Ae Young LEE
;
Jae Moon KIM
Author Information
1. Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, Chungnam National University.
- Publication Type:Original Article
- MeSH:
Animals;
Cognition;
Depression;
Education;
Frontal Lobe*;
Humans;
Levodopa;
Memory;
Neuropsychological Tests;
Parkinson Disease*
- From:Journal of the Korean Neurological Association
1998;16(2):166-171
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
A wide range of cognitive impairments and depression can be observed in most patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). But the underlying mechanism of these changes has not to be clarified yet. This study evaluated whether the frontal lobe dysfunctions contribute to the cognitive deficits in PD by comparison with age and education-matched controls. The neuropsychological tests known to be sensitive to frontal lobe dysfunction were performed to 38 patients with PD and matched 24 controls. These were composed of 'Category Fluency Test (CFT)' including objects, animals, & nations and 'Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST)'. General cognition and depression were measured 'Korean Mini-Mental State Examination (K-MMSE)' and 'Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)' respectively. We examined the degree of motor disabilities in PD using the Hoehn-Yahr Stage. Patients with PD were assessed before noon and during the ""On"" time of levodopa to reduce the diurnal variation of mood and drug effects. Although PD patients, compared with controls, showed decreased ability in attention & calculation, memory, and visuo-spatial construction, the most prominent deficit was frontal lobe dysfunction evaluated with WCST and CFTs. Cognitive impairments in PD did not attribute to the discrepancy of education level or associated depression. So we suggest that the frontal lobe dysfunction may play an important role for cognitive impairments in PD.
