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Patterns of Cognitive Impairment in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease and Parkinson’s Disease: Are They Similar or Different?

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Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease

Part of the book series: Advances in Behavioral Biology ((ABBI,volume 29))

Abstract

Cognitive impairment is the hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and is caused by pathological and biochemical changes in the brain. There is a correlation between the number of senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles and extent of cholinergic neuronal degeneration and the severity of AD dementia1,2. In Parkinson’s disease (PD) the main feature is a movement disorder which may be accompanied by cognitive impairment3,4,5,6. The causes for the dementia in PD are undetermined6. It may be due to superimposed AD in PD patients7,8. This view is supported by similarities in pattern of the cognitive impairment in AD and PD patients reported by some but not all investigators7,8. In addition, there is a high prevalence of “Alzheimer-like” changes9, and degeneration of neuronal perikaria in the nucleus basalis of Meynert and of the innominato-cortical cholinergic neurons in PD brains10,11,12. However, some authors suggest that the characteristics of the dementia in PD are different from those of AD and are of “subcortical” origin13,14. Also, in some demented PD patients, there was no evidence for senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles post-mortem15. The latter raises the possibility that the cognitive impairment in Ad an PD are not identical and may be caused by different mechanisms. To gain more information on this controversial issue we have now examined whether the pattern of cognitive dysfunction is similar or different in AD and PD patients.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Cerebrovascular Research, Department of Neurology, Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel

    Bracha Mildworf, Mordechai Globus & Eldad Melamed

Authors
  1. Bracha Mildworf
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  2. Mordechai Globus
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  3. Eldad Melamed
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona, Israel

    Abraham Fisher  & Chaim Lachman  & 

  2. Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    Israel Hanin

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© 1986 Plenum Press, New York

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Mildworf, B., Globus, M., Melamed, E. (1986). Patterns of Cognitive Impairment in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease and Parkinson’s Disease: Are They Similar or Different?. In: Fisher, A., Hanin, I., Lachman, C. (eds) Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease. Advances in Behavioral Biology, vol 29. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2179-8_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2179-8_17

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-9283-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-2179-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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