Can a neuropsychological follow up contribute to the diagnosis of parkinsonian syndromes?
- INSERM EPI 007 et Centre de Neuropsychologie, Fédération de Neurologie, Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, 47 Blvd de l'Hôpital, 75651 Paris cedex 13, France bernard.pillon@psl.ap-hop-paris.fr
Although an akinetic rigid syndrome is the hallmark of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD), striatonigral degeneration (SND), and progressive nuclear palsy (PSP), cognitive and behavioural dysfunctions are often found in these parkinsonian syndromes. If the neuropsychological deficits directly reflect underlying brain neuronal lesions, we may expect that the cognitive and behavioural changes associated with these syndromes depend on the specific pattern of subcortical or cortical lesions that characterise each disease. The earliest and major cognitive deficit in all three diseases is impairment of executive functions as shown by performance on tests sensitive to frontal lobe function. Is it possible …
