Session Information
Date: Monday, September 23, 2019
Session Title: Restless Leg Syndrome, RBD and Other Sleep Disorders
Session Time: 1:45pm-3:15pm
Location: Les Muses Terrace, Level 3
Objective: We aimed to compare the neuropsychological and psychobehavioral profile of patients with iRBD and PDRBD.
Background: REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD) is considered as a prodromal markers of an alpha-synucleinopathy, including Parkinson disease (PD).(1)Moreover, RBD is found in about 50% of patients with PD (PDRBD), representing a marker of more malignant phenotype with an increased risk for dementia.(2)
Method: Twenty-five PDRBD patients (M=18; mean age: 67.8±7.5yrs, mean education 9.1±4.1 yrs) and forty-two iRBD patients (M=32; mean age: 70.5±8.2yrs; mean education: 8.7±4.1yrs) were enrolled. RBD diagnosis was made according to standard diagnostic criteria.(3)All participants underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological and behavioral assessment, including evaluation of verbal and visuospatial episodic memory, short-term memory, working memory, semantic and phonemic fluency and visuospatial/visuoconstructional abilities, executive functions, depression, anxiety and alexithymia.
Results: No significant differences were found between the two groups in terms of education and gender distribution. PDRBD patients were significantly younger than iRBD patients (p=0.0438). PDRBD patients performed significantly worse than iRBD patients in the Rey 15 memory test (p=0,0322) and in the Visual Object and Space Perception (VOSP) battery test (dot counting subtest p=0,0312). However, no differences were found between PDRBD and iRBD patients concerning behavioral profile, namely depression, anxiety and alexithymia. Moreover, 2/42(4.8%) iRBD patients showed an amnestic multidomain mild cognitive impairment (MCI), 13/42(31.0%) iRBD patients a non-amnestic (executive) single domain MCI. On the other hand, 7/25(28%) PDRBD patients showed a non-amnestic multidomain concerning executive functions and visuospatial abilities.
Conclusion: PDRBD patients showed worse neuropsychological performances compared to iRBD patients, namely in long term memory and visuo-spatial abilities, but MCI was observed in approximately one third of patients in both iRBD and PDRBD groups. Furthermore, no differences in behavioral profile including depression, anxiety and alexithymia, were found between PDRBD and iRBD patients, suggesting that psychobehavioral changes are present since the very early stage of the neurodegenerative process.
References: 1. Postuma RB. Prodromal Parkinson’s disease–using REM sleep behavior disorder as a window. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2014 Jan;20 Suppl 1:S1-4. 2. Fereshtehnejad S-M, Romenets SR, Anang JBM, Latreille V, Gagnon J-F, Postuma RB. New Clinical Subtypes of Parkinson Disease and Their Longitudinal Progression: A Prospective Cohort Comparison With Other Phenotypes. JAMA Neurol. 2015 Aug 1;72(8):863. 3. ICSD-3 Online Version – American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) [Internet]. AASM. 2015 [cited 2015 Jan 10]. Available from: http://www.aasmnet.org/store/product.aspx?pid=849
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
M. Figorilli, P. Pisanu, MG. Mascia, M. Meloni, RM. Lecca, G. Gioi, P. Congiu, L. Tamburrino, G. Defazio, M. Fantini, M. Puligheddu. Neuropsychological and behavioral profile of patients with isolated REM sleep behaviour disorders (iRBD) and patients with RBD associated with Parkinson’s Disease (PDRBD) [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2019; 34 (suppl 2). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/neuropsychological-and-behavioral-profile-of-patients-with-isolated-rem-sleep-behaviour-disorders-irbd-and-patients-with-rbd-associated-with-parkinsons-disease-pdrbd/. Accessed May 18, 2025.« Back to 2019 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/neuropsychological-and-behavioral-profile-of-patients-with-isolated-rem-sleep-behaviour-disorders-irbd-and-patients-with-rbd-associated-with-parkinsons-disease-pdrbd/