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Neuropsychological functioning in patients with Parkinson's Disease pre- and post-pallidotomy
442
Abstracts of 15th Annual Meeting
Rilling, L. M., Filoteo, J. V., Roberts, J. W., & Heilbrun, M. P. Neuropsychological Functioning in Patients With Parkinson's Disease Pre- and PostPallidotomy. Currently, there is an increased interest in the treatment of patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD) through the surgical lesioning of the globus paUidus, otherwise known as pallidotomy. Promising preliminary results have indicated the this surgical intervention can result in a significant decrease in the patients' motor symptoms, such as dyskinesia and rigidity (Sutton et al., 1994; Baron, Vitek et al., 1994). The effects of this procedure on neuropsychological functioning, however, have not been well studied. In order to explore the possible changes in cognitive functioning associated with pallidotomies, five medicated PD patients were given a comprehensive neuropsychological battery pre- and post-surgery. Testing included assessment of executive functions, attention and concentration, memory, verbal fluency, and naming and visuospatial abilities. Overall, the results indicated that the pallidotomy did not effect negatively the general cognitive abilities of patients with PD. However, a closer examination of the patient's pre- and post-surgery test results revealed that the majority of patients demonstrated a significant decrease in verbal fluency for semantic categories, such as animals, fruits, and vegetables. There was no evidence of decline, however, on verbal letter fluency (FAS) in these patients. In addition, one patient showed a significant increase in depression post-surgery, a result also reported by Sutton et al., 1994. These preliminary results suggest that, although patients with PD may benefit motorically from pallidotomy surgery, and their general neuropsychological abilities may not be effected, a decline in isolated cognitive functions may be associated with this type of surgery. Important methodological issues will also be discussed.
Romans, S. M., Roeltgen, D. P., Kushner, H., & Ross, J. L. Executive Function in Females With Turner Syndrome. Turner syndrome (TS) is a genetic disorder affecting females. TS females are missing all or part of one X chromosome and generally have a phenotype that includes growth failure, webbed neck, edema, cardiac deficits, and ovarian failure. Researchers have identified a specific neurocognitive profile in TS characterized by developmentally normal verbal abilities and decreased visual-spatial, spatial-perceptual, and attentional abilities. However, limited research has focused on executive abilities and the contribution of underlying attentional deficits on executive performance in TS females. Executive skills include the ability to plan, organize, monitor, and execute multi-step problem solving processes. The goal of the current study was to investigate executive function and attention abilities in females with Turner syndrome (TS). Measures of attention and executive function were analyzed from 104 girls with Turner syndrome and from 113 female controls matched for age, IQ, and SES. Three ages were evaluated in order to assess developmental patterns in executive skills. The TS group (all ages) performed significantly less well than the controls on several measures of attention, including WlSC-R Digit Span and Freedom From Distractibility. Girls with Turner Syndrome performed at levels comparable to controls on certain tests of executive function including the Wisconsin Card Sort Test and on measures of semantic clustering, but exhibited significant deficits on two other measures of executive function, the Rey-Osterrieth organizational component and the Tower of Hanoi. In summary, girls with TS have evidence of attention deficits at all the ages studied. Their performance on tests of executive function with "spatial loading" showed similar impairment at all ages studied. Further exploration of the contribution of multi-modal factors and the resulting neurocognitive profile in individuals with Turner Syndrome is warranted.
Abstracts of 15th Annual Meeting
Rilling, L. M., Filoteo, J. V., Roberts, J. W., & Heilbrun, M. P. Neuropsychological Functioning in Patients With Parkinson's Disease Pre- and PostPallidotomy. Currently, there is an increased interest in the treatment of patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD) through the surgical lesioning of the globus paUidus, otherwise known as pallidotomy. Promising preliminary results have indicated the this surgical intervention can result in a significant decrease in the patients' motor symptoms, such as dyskinesia and rigidity (Sutton et al., 1994; Baron, Vitek et al., 1994). The effects of this procedure on neuropsychological functioning, however, have not been well studied. In order to explore the possible changes in cognitive functioning associated with pallidotomies, five medicated PD patients were given a comprehensive neuropsychological battery pre- and post-surgery. Testing included assessment of executive functions, attention and concentration, memory, verbal fluency, and naming and visuospatial abilities. Overall, the results indicated that the pallidotomy did not effect negatively the general cognitive abilities of patients with PD. However, a closer examination of the patient's pre- and post-surgery test results revealed that the majority of patients demonstrated a significant decrease in verbal fluency for semantic categories, such as animals, fruits, and vegetables. There was no evidence of decline, however, on verbal letter fluency (FAS) in these patients. In addition, one patient showed a significant increase in depression post-surgery, a result also reported by Sutton et al., 1994. These preliminary results suggest that, although patients with PD may benefit motorically from pallidotomy surgery, and their general neuropsychological abilities may not be effected, a decline in isolated cognitive functions may be associated with this type of surgery. Important methodological issues will also be discussed.
Romans, S. M., Roeltgen, D. P., Kushner, H., & Ross, J. L. Executive Function in Females With Turner Syndrome. Turner syndrome (TS) is a genetic disorder affecting females. TS females are missing all or part of one X chromosome and generally have a phenotype that includes growth failure, webbed neck, edema, cardiac deficits, and ovarian failure. Researchers have identified a specific neurocognitive profile in TS characterized by developmentally normal verbal abilities and decreased visual-spatial, spatial-perceptual, and attentional abilities. However, limited research has focused on executive abilities and the contribution of underlying attentional deficits on executive performance in TS females. Executive skills include the ability to plan, organize, monitor, and execute multi-step problem solving processes. The goal of the current study was to investigate executive function and attention abilities in females with Turner syndrome (TS). Measures of attention and executive function were analyzed from 104 girls with Turner syndrome and from 113 female controls matched for age, IQ, and SES. Three ages were evaluated in order to assess developmental patterns in executive skills. The TS group (all ages) performed significantly less well than the controls on several measures of attention, including WlSC-R Digit Span and Freedom From Distractibility. Girls with Turner Syndrome performed at levels comparable to controls on certain tests of executive function including the Wisconsin Card Sort Test and on measures of semantic clustering, but exhibited significant deficits on two other measures of executive function, the Rey-Osterrieth organizational component and the Tower of Hanoi. In summary, girls with TS have evidence of attention deficits at all the ages studied. Their performance on tests of executive function with "spatial loading" showed similar impairment at all ages studied. Further exploration of the contribution of multi-modal factors and the resulting neurocognitive profile in individuals with Turner Syndrome is warranted.