Summary.
Twenty right-handed patients affected by early/mild Parkinson's disease were evaluated in a randomised study using neuropsychological and clinical assessements during three treatment modalities: when in the off treatment condition, when on pramipexole, and when on l-dopa. In comparison to the off treatment condition, the DA-agonist pramipexole produced a significant impairment of short term verbal memory, attentional-executive functions and verbal fluency, while l-dopa did not. Moreover, pramipexole opposite to l-dopa, failed to improve FAS and Stroop tests. Present findings indicate that pramipexole may worsen cognitive functions although not exceeding normative values.
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Received August 6, 2002; accepted November 11, 2002 Published online March 5, 2003
Authors' address: Prof. P. Stanzione, IRCCS Fondazione S. Lucia, Via Ardeatina n. 306, I-00179 Roma, Italy, e-mail: stanzione@med.uniroma2.it
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brusa, L., Bassi, A., Stefani, A. et al. Pramipexole in comparison to l-dopa: a neuropsychological study. J Neural Transm 110, 373–380 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-002-0811-7
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-002-0811-7