Objective: To investigate the relationship between cognitive function and vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) gain in denovo Parkinson’s disease (PD).

Background: Saccades are rapid eye movements necessary for aligning objects of interest with the fovea. Saccadic dysfunction has been suggested in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, there are lack of studies which investigated the relationship between vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) and specific cognitive function test score in PD.

Method: Total 128 patients with denovo PD were enrolled. Head impulse test (HIT) was performed in all participants and quantified using video-based equipment. The VOR gains were measured for individual trials as the ratio of mean velocity of the eye divided by the mean velocity of the head during a 40-ms window centered at the time of peak head acceleration. For statistical analyses, we calculated the mean gain for bilateral horizontal canals. All patients underwent detailed neuropsychological test using the Seoul Neuropsychological Screening Battery. Standardized z-scores were available for all scorable tests based on age- and education-matched norms. The association between VOR gain and cognitive function test score was evaluated using general linear models after controlling for age, sex, and education.

Results: Sixty-three patients were male (49.2%), and the mean age was 66.74 ± 9.76. Mean Korean version of mini-mental test score was 27.63 ± 2.49 and the mean UPDRS part III score was 24.08 ± 10.54. The VOR gain was positively associated with the clock drawing test score (B = 0.747, P = 0.002) and Rey copy score (B = 1.554, P = 0.022). The VOR gain was not related to the attention, language, memory, and frontal/executive function test scores.

Conclusion: VOR gain was related to the visuospatial dysfunction in PD. Further study is needed to evaluate the underlying mechanisms responsible for saccadic dysfunction and cognitive impairment in PD.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/vestibulo-ocular-reflex-and-cognitive-dysfunction-in-denovo-parkinsons-disease/