Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Cognitive impairment and dementia in basal ganglia disorders

  • Published:
Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We present an update focusing on research from the past 2 years on cognitive impairment and dementia in basal ganglia disorders, including Huntington’s disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, Parkinson’s disease, Parkinson’s disease dementia, and dementia with Lewy bodies. In addition to the many recent papers that aim to refine descriptions of the cognitive phenotypes in the basal ganglia disorders, the current literature addresses the use of cognitive assessment in differential diagnosis of clinically overlapping disorders, the effects of surgical and pharmacologic treatments on cognitive functions, and the relationship between cognitive impairment and functional disability. We also discuss opportunities for enhancing the understanding of cognition in basal ganglia disorders through the use of improved study design and assessment strategies.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References and Recommended Reading

  1. Aylward EH, Sparks BF, Field KM, et al.: Onset and rate of striatal atrophy in preclinical Huntington disease. Neurology 2004, 63:66–72.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Hennenlotter A, Schroeder U, Erhard P, et al.: Neural correlates associated with impaired disgust processing in pre-symptomatic Huntington’s disease. Brain: J Neurol 2004, 127:1446–1453.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Kim J, Reading SAJ, Brashers-Krug T, et al.: Functional MRI study of a serial reaction time task in Huntington’s disease. Psychiatry Res: Neuroimaging 2004, 131:23–30.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Paulsen JS, Zimbelman JL, Hinton SC, et al.: fMRI biomarker of early neuronal dysfunction in presymptomatic Huntington’s disease. Am J Neuroradiol 2004, 25:1715–1721.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Reading SA, Dziorny AC, Peroutka LA, et al.: Functional brain changes in presymptomatic Huntington’s disease. Ann Neurol 2004, 55:879–883.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Blekher TM, Yee RD, Kirkwood SC, et al.: Oculomotor control in asymptomatic and recently diagnosed individuals with the genetic marker for Huntington’s disease. Vision Res 2004, 44:2729.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Kassubek J, Juengling FD, Kioschies T, et al.: Topography of cerebral atrophy in early Huntington’s disease: a voxel based morphometric MRI study. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004, 75:213.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Campbell MC, Stout JC, Finn PR: Reduced autonomic responsiveness to gambling task losses in Huntington’s disease. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 2004, 10:239–245.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Soliveri P, Monza D, Paridi D, et al.: Neuropsychological follow up in patients with Parkinson’s disease striatonigral degeneration-type multisystem atrophy and progressive supranuclear palsy. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2000, 69:313–318.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Grafman J, Litvan I, Stark M: Neuropsychological features of progressive supranuclear palsy. Brain Cognition 1995, 28:311–320.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Nath U, Ben-Shlomo Y, Thomson RG, et al.: Clinical features and natural history of progressive supranuclear palsy: a clinical cohort study. Neurology 2003, 25:910–916.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Brenneis C, Seppi K, Schocke M, et al.: Voxel based morphometry reveals a distinct pattern of frontal atrophy in progressive supranuclear palsy. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004, 75:246–249.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Williams DR, de Silva R, Paviour DC, et al.: Characteristics of two distinct clinical phenotypes in pathologically proven progressive supranuclear palsy: Richardson’s syndrome and PSP-parkinsonism. Brain 2005, 128:1247–1258.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. McKeith IG, Galasko D, Kosaka K, et al.: Consensus guidelines for the clinical and pathologic diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB): Report of the consortium of DLB international workshop. Neurology 1996, 47:1113–1124.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Press DZ: Parkinson’s disease dementia. N Engl J Med 2004, 351:2547–2549.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Litvan I, Bhatia KP, Burn DJ, et al.: Movement Disorders Society Scientific Issue Committee report: SIC Task Force appraisal of clinical diagnostic criteria for Parkinsonian disorders. Mov Disord 2003, 18:467–486.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Folytynie T, Brayne CE, Robbins TW, Barker RA: The cognitive ability of an incident cohort of Parkinson’s patients in the U.K. The CamPaIGN study. Brain 2004, 127:550–560. This study presents the incidence of newly diagnosed PD in a community-based study of consecutively presenting patients within Cambridgeshire in the UK. To describe heterogeneity in the cognitive phenotype the authors used a sophisticated approach to study global cognition, as well as cognitive functions associated with frontal and temporal lobes, which revealed distinct cognitive subgroups.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Levin BE, Katzen HL: Early cognitive changes and nondementing behavioural abnormalities in Parkinson’s disease. In Advances in Neurology: Behavioral Neurology of Movement Disorders. Edited by Weiner WJ, Lange AE. New York: Raven Press; 1995:85–95.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Monchi O, Petrides M, Doyon J, et al.: Neural bases of set shifting deficits in Parkinson’s disease. J Neurosci 2004, 24:702.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Nagano-Saito A, Kato T, Arahata Y, et al.: Cognitive and motor related regions in Parkinson’s disease: FDOPA and FDG PET studies. NeuroImage 2004, 22:553.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Weintraub D, Moberg PJ, Culbertson WC, et al.: Evidence for impaired encoding and retrieval memory profiles in Parkinson disease. Cogn Behav Neurol 2004, 17:195–200. This report stands out because it systematically examines heterogeneity in memory performances of PD patients, rather than using measures of central tendency to describe the overall group trends. By using this approach, the investigators were able to challenge the predominant view of PD as having a subcortical memory profile, and show that other, more cortical memory profiles, as well as normal memory, occur in substantial proportions of subjects.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Wylie SA, Stout JC: Enhanced negative priming in Parkinson’s disease. Neuropsychology 2002, 16:242–250.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Wylie SA, Stout JC, Bashore TR: Activation of conflicting responses in Parkinson’s disease: evidence for degrading and facilitating effects on response time. Neuropsychologia 2005, 43:1033–1043.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Dujardin K, Defebvre L, Duhamel A, et al.: Cognitive and SPECT characteristics predict progression of Parkinson’s disease in newly diagnosed patients. J Neurol 2004, 251:1383.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Gilman S, Koeppe RA, Little R, et al.: Differentiation of Alzheimer’s disease from dementia with lewy bodies utilizing positron emission tomography with [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose and neuropsychological testing. Exp Neurol 2005, 191:S95-S103.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Hamilton JM, Salmon DP, Galasko D, et al.: A comparison of episodic memory deficits in neuropathologically-confirmed Dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer’s disease. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 2004, 10:689–697.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Kraybill ML, Larson EB, Tsuang DW, et al.: Cognitive differences in dementia patients with autopsy-verified AD, Lewy body pathology, or both. Neurology 2005, 64:2069–2073.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Tam CW, Burton EJ, McKeith IG, et al.: Temporal lobe atrophy on MRI in Parkinson disease with dementia: a comparison with Alzheimer disease and dementia with lewy bodies. Neurology 2005, 64:861–865.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Cormack F, Aarsland D, Ballard C, Tovee MJ: Pentagon drawing and neuropsychological performance in dementia with Lewy bodies, Alzheimers disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease with dementia. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 2004, 19:371.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Ralph MA, Powell J, Howard D, et al.: Semantic memory is impaired in both dementia with lewy bodies and dementia of Alzheimer’s type: a comparative neuropsychological study and literature review. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2001, 70:149–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Olichney JM, Galasko D, Salmon DP, et al.: Cognitive decline is faster in Lewy body variant than in Alzheimer’s disease. Neurology 1998, 51:351–357.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Aarsland D, Andersen K, Larsen JP, et al.: The rate of cognitive decline in Parkinson disease. Arch Neurol 2004, 61:1906–1911.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Popescu A, Lippa CF: Parkinsonian syndromes: Parkinson’s disease dementia, dementia with lewy bodies, and progressive supranuclear palsy. Clin Neurosci Res 2004, 3:461.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Zgaljardic DJ, Foldi NS, Borod JC: Cognitive and behavioral dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease: neurochemical and clinicopathological contributions. J Neural Transmission 2004, 111:1287.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Morrison CE, Borod JC, Perrine K, et al.: Neuropsychological functioning following bilateral subthalamic nucleus stimulation in Parkinson’s disease. Arch Clin Neuropsychol 2004, 19:165.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Simard M, van Reekum R: The acetylcholinesterase inhibitors for treatment of cognitive and behavioral symptoms in dementia with lewy bodies. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 2004, 16:409–425. This article provides a summary and critical review of the 40 studies using acetylcholinesterase inhibitors to enhance cognition in DLB. Dosage levels are included, as well as summaries of findings for several drugs, which will be an excellent resource for clinicians.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Thomas M, Ashizawa T, Jankovic J: Minocycline in Huntington’s disease: a pilot study. Mov Disord 2004, 19:692–695.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Nehl C, Paulsen JS, and the Predict-HD HSG Investigators: Cognitive and psychiatric aspects of Huntington’s disease contribute to functional capacity. J Nervous Mental Dis 2004, 192:72–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Weintraub D, Moberg PJ, Duda JE, et al.: Effect of psychiatric and other nonmotor symptoms on disability in Parkinson’s disease. J Am Geriatr Soc 2004, 52:784.z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Radford KA, Lincoln NB, Lennox G: The effects of cognitive abilities on driving in people with Parkinson’s disease. Disabil Rehabil 2004, 26:65.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Witt K, Pulkowski U, Herzog J, et al.: Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus improves cognitive flexibility but impairs response inhibition in Parkinson disease. Arch Neurol 2004, 61:697–700.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Funkiewiez A, Ardouin C, Caputo E, et al.: Long term effects of bilateral subthalamic nucleus stimulation on cognitive function mood and behaviour in Parkinson’s disease. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004, 75:834.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Dujardin K, Blairy S, Defebvre L, et al.: Subthalamic nucleus stimulation induces deficits in decoding emotional facial expressions in Parkinson’s disease. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004, 75:202.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Brusa L, Tiraboschi P, Koch G, et al.: Pergolide effect on cognitive functions in early-mild Parkinson’s disease. J Neural Transmission 2005, 112:231.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Morrison CE, Borod JC, Brin MF, et al.: Effects of levodopa on cognitive functioning in moderate to severe Parkinson’s disease (MSPD). J Neural Transmission 2004, 111:1333.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. Fern-Pollak L, Whone AL, Brooks DJ, and Mehta MA: Cognitive and motor effects of dopaminergic medication withdrawal in Parkinson’s disease. Neuropsychologia 2004, 42:1917.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Emre M, Aarsland D, Albanese A, et al.: Rivastigmine for dementia associated with Parkinson’s disease. N Engl J Med 2004, 351:2509.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. Leroi I, Brandt J, Reich SG, et al.: Randomized placebo-controlled trial of donepezil in cognitive impairment in Parkison’s disease. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 2004, 19:1.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Beversdorf DQ, Warner JL, Davis RA, et al.: Donepezil in the treatment of dementia with lewy bodies. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 2004, 12:542–544.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Lemay S, Chouinard S, Blanchet P, et al.: Lack of efficacy of a nicotine transdermal treatment on motor and cognitive deficits in Parkinson’s disease. Progress in Neuropsychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry 2004, 28:31.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, 1101 East 10th Street, 47405-700, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Julie C. Stout PhD & Shannon A. Johnson PhD

Authors
  1. Julie C. Stout PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Shannon A. Johnson PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Stout, J.C., Johnson, S.A. Cognitive impairment and dementia in basal ganglia disorders. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep 5, 355–363 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-005-0059-3

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-005-0059-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation