Executive functioning in daily life in Parkinson's disease: initiative, planning and multi-task performance

Impairments in executive functioning are frequently observed in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, executive functioning needed in daily life is difficult to measure. Considering this difficulty the Cognitive Effort Test (CET) was recently developed. In this multi-task test the goals are specif...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2011-12, Vol.6 (12), p.e29254-e29254
Main Authors: Koerts, Janneke, Van Beilen, Marije, Tucha, Oliver, Leenders, Klaus L, Brouwer, Wiebo H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activities of Daily Living - psychology
Behavior
Brain damage
Case-Control Studies
Cognitive ability
Compensation
Executive Function
Female
Flexibility
Humans
Male
Medical research
Medicine
Memory
Middle Aged
Movement disorders
Multitasking
Neurodegenerative diseases
Neurology
Neuropsychological Tests
Neuropsychology
Parkinson Disease - pathology
Parkinson Disease - physiopathology
Parkinson Disease - psychology
Parkinson's disease
Patients
Psychomotor Performance
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Social sciences
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Summary:Impairments in executive functioning are frequently observed in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, executive functioning needed in daily life is difficult to measure. Considering this difficulty the Cognitive Effort Test (CET) was recently developed. In this multi-task test the goals are specified but participants are free in their approach. This study applies the CET in PD patients and investigates whether initiative, planning and multi-tasking are associated with aspects of executive functions and psychomotor speed. Thirty-six PD patients with a mild to moderate disease severity and thirty-four healthy participants were included in this study. PD patients planned and demonstrated more sequential task execution, which was associated with a decreased psychomotor speed. Furthermore, patients with a moderate PD planned to execute fewer tasks at the same time than patients with a mild PD. No differences were found between these groups for multi-tasking. In conclusion, PD patients planned and executed the tasks of the CET sequentially rather than in parallel presumably reflecting a compensation strategy for a decreased psychomotor speed. Furthermore, patients with moderate PD appeared to take their impairments into consideration when planning how to engage the tasks of the test. This compensation could not be detected in patients with mild PD.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0029254