Session Information
Date: Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Session Title: Parkinson's disease: Cognition
Session Time: 12:00pm-1:30pm
Location: Exhibit Hall located in Hall B, Level 2
Objective: To assess a possible cognitive impairment and its specific profile in the prodromal phase of Parkinson’s disease (PD).
Background: Cognitive impairment is common in PD and may be detectable already at the time of diagnosis. Little is known regarding onset with or prior to motor symptoms and regarding those cognitive domains that are preferentially affected.
Methods: A population-based cohort of healthy subjects aged ≥ 50 years underwent an extensive neuropsychological test battery based on the ‘Consortium to establish a registry for Alzheimer’s disease’ (CERAD). Conversion to manifest motor PD was assessed prospectively in clinical follow-up examinations over a study period of at least two up to ten years.
Results: Five of the included 468 initially healthy subjects developed PD. Mean time from study inclusion with cognitive assessment and PD diagnosis was 65.2 ± 27 months (range 24 – 94). PD converters had shown significantly worse cognitive performance at baseline in global scales (p<0.05) and in subtests regarding memory (p<0.01), language (p<0.05) and visuoconstruction (p<0.05) compared to those participants staying healthy (Mann Whitney U test). No dysexecutive syndrome could be demonstrated. PD converters scored ≤ 10% percentile of the whole cohort in at least one subtest (n=2), two subtests (n=1) up to five subtests (n=2). All cognitive domains apart from execution were affected. There was no correlation between the number of pathological subtests and the time to diagnosis (Spearman correlation coefficient).
Conclusions: Our results give evidence that cognitive impairment in PD may develop prior to motor symptoms complementing a prodromal syndrome years before hypokinesia leads to PD diagnosis according to clinical criteria. No universal profile of prodromal impairment but alteration in different cognitive domains can be detected.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
C. Pausch, J. Spiegel, F.A. Wollenweber, C. Bayer, U. Dillmann, K. Fassbender, S. Behnke. Occurrence and pattern of cognitive deficits in prodromal Parkinson’s disease [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2016; 31 (suppl 2). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/occurrence-and-pattern-of-cognitive-deficits-in-prodromal-parkinsons-disease/. Accessed October 16, 2025.« Back to 2016 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/occurrence-and-pattern-of-cognitive-deficits-in-prodromal-parkinsons-disease/