Different effects of dopaminergic and anticholinergic therapies on cognitive and motor function in Parkinson's disease : a follow-up study of untreated patients

The cognitive performance of a group of 82 newly diagnosed patients with Parkinson's disease who had never been treated was reassessed approximately 4 mths after randomization to one of three monotherapies (levodopa, bromocriptine or anticholinergic drugs). Dopaminergic and anticholinergic trea...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Brain (London, England : 1878) England : 1878), 1992-12, Vol.115, p.1701-1725
Main Authors: COOPER, J. A, SAGAR, H. J, DOHERTY, S. M, JORDAN, N, TIDSWELL, P, SULLIVAN, E. V
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Anticonvulsants. Antiepileptics. Antiparkinson agents
Biological and medical sciences
Bromocriptine - therapeutic use
Cognition Disorders - drug therapy
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Frontal Lobe - physiopathology
Humans
Levodopa - therapeutic use
Male
Medical sciences
Memory Disorders - drug therapy
Middle Aged
Motor Activity
Movement
Neuropharmacology
Parasympatholytics - therapeutic use
Parkinson Disease - drug therapy
Parkinson Disease - physiopathology
Parkinson Disease - psychology
Pharmacology. Drug treatments
Psychomotor Performance
Visual Perception
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The cognitive performance of a group of 82 newly diagnosed patients with Parkinson's disease who had never been treated was reassessed approximately 4 mths after randomization to one of three monotherapies (levodopa, bromocriptine or anticholinergic drugs). Dopaminergic and anticholinergic treatments both led to improvement in motor control but their effects upon cognitive performance dissociated. Anticholinergic drugs produced impairment in processes underlying the immediate registration of information whilst dopaminergic therapy produced improvement on a task dependent on working memory and cognitive sequencing. Other cognitive measures showed no change on treatment. The deficits that were affected by cholinergic and dopaminergic modulation are those that were most compromised in the early, untreated state in Parkinson's disease. The data support the notion that cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease is multifactorial in origin: short-term memory processes are served by both dopaminergic and cholinergic subcortico-frontal systems but much of the cognitive impairment of Parkinson's disease is independent of this subcortical neurochemical pathology and may be due to early neuronal dysfunction within the cerebral cortex.
ISSN:0006-8950
1460-2156
DOI:10.1093/brain/115.6.1701