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A study of cognitive functions in young Parkinsonian patients
Author(s) -
Wermuth L.,
Knudsen L.,
Boldsen J.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
acta neurologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.967
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1600-0404
pISSN - 0001-6314
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0404.1996.tb00164.x
Subject(s) - neuropsychology , cognition , psychology , wechsler adult intelligence scale , neuropsychological assessment , verbal memory , developmental psychology , audiology , verbal reasoning , clinical psychology , psychiatry , medicine
The purpose of the study was to evaluate the neuropsychological performance of younger Parkinson's disease (PD) patients compared to healthy controls. A group of young optimally treated PD patients younger than 56 years was pair‐matched with a group of healthy controls for age, social class and the two WAIS subtests “vocabulary” and “similarities”. As a group, the PD patients were satisfactory in verbal logical intelligence, but evaluation of neuropsychological tests showed difficulties in short memory span, constructional function and logical visual sequential cognition. Young PD patients have some cognitive impairment for which they are able to compensate for a time because of preserved intelligence. More attention should be paid to possible problems in their jobs and social life.