Mild Cognitive Impairment in Parkinson’s Disease

• Published in: Current neurology and neuroscience reports 2011-08, Vol.11 (4), p.371-378
• Main Authors: Aarsland, Dag, Brønnick, Kolbjørn, Fladby, Tormod
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cerebrospinal Fluid - chemistry; Clinical Trials as Topic; Cognition Disorders - epidemiology; Cognition Disorders - etiology; Cognition Disorders - pathology; Cognition Disorders - physiopathology; Humans; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Neurology; Neuropsychological Tests; Neurosciences; Neurotransmitter Agents - deficiency; Parkinson Disease - complications; Parkinson Disease - epidemiology; Parkinson Disease - pathology; Parkinson Disease - physiopathology; Parkinson's disease
• ISSN: 1528-4042; 1534-6293; 1534-6293
• DOI: 10.1007/s11910-011-0203-1

Prospective studies conducted during the last decade have shown that the majority of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) develop dementia. In addition, using a variety of definitions and methods, more recent research suggests that approximately a quarter of PD patients without dementia have mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI). Furthermore, several studies have shown that approximately 20% have MCI even at time of diagnosis of PD. The typical cognitive deficits include visuospatial, attentional, and executive deficits, but memory deficits have also been shown. The etiology of PD-MCI is not known, but it is likely that mechanisms known to contribute to dementia in PD (ie, limbic and cortical Lewy bodies, amyloid plaques, and cholinergic deficits) play a role, in addition to dysfunction of dopaminergic frontostriatal circuits. PD-MCI predicts a shorter time to dementia, and preliminary evidence suggests that this is particularly true for posterior cognitive deficits. There are currently no systematic clinical trials in PD-MCI.