Objective

To assess regions and patterns of brain atrophy in patients with Parkinson disease (PD) with normal cognition (PD-NC), mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI), and dementia-level cognitive deficits (PDD).

Design

Images were quantified using a region-of-interest approach and voxel-based morphometry analysis. We used a high-dimensional pattern classification approach to delineate brain regions that collectively formed the Spatial Pattern of Abnormalities for Recognition of PDD.

Setting

The Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

Subjects

Eighty-four PD patients (61 PD-NC, 12 PD-MCI, and 11 PDD) and 23 healthy control subjects (HCs) underwent magnetic resonance imaging of the brain.

Results

The PD-NC patients did not demonstrate significant brain atrophy compared with HCs. Compared with PD-NC patients, PD-MCI patients had hippocampal atrophy (β=−0.37; P=.001), and PDD patients demonstrated hippocampal (β=−0.32; P=.004) and additional medial temporal lobe atrophy (β=−0.36; P=.003). The PD-MCI patients had a different pattern of atrophy compared with PD-NC patients (P=.04) and a similar pattern to that of PDD patients (P=.81), characterized by hippocampal, prefrontal cortex gray and white matter, occipital lobe gray and white matter, and parietal lobe white matter atrophy. In nondemented PD patients, there was a correlation between memory-encoding performance and hippocampal volume.

Conclusions

Hippocampal atrophy is a biomarker of initial cognitive decline in PD, including impaired memory encoding and storage, suggesting heterogeneity in the neural substrate of memory impairment. Use of a pattern classification approach may allow identification of diffuse regions of cortical gray and white matter atrophy early in the course of cognitive decline.

Background

Hyposmia, psychiatric disorders and cognitive problems are common non-motor manifestations in Parkinson's Disease but how they are related remains unclear.

Methods

To investigate the relationship between olfactory dysfunction and neuropsychiatric manifestations we performed a cross-sectional study of 248 patients at two movement disorders clinics at academic medical centers. Psychiatric measures were the Geriatric Depression Scale-15, Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology, State Anxiety Inventory, Apathy Scale and Parkinson's Psychosis Rating Scale. Cognitive measures were the Mini Mental State Examination, Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised, Digit Span, Tower of London-Drexel and the Stroop Color Word Test. Olfaction was tested with the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification test.

Results

There was no significant association between olfaction and mood measures, but psychotic symptoms were more common in patients with olfaction scores below the median (30% vs. 12%, p<0.001). Worse olfaction was associated with poorer memory (Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised delayed recall items: mean(standard deviation) 6.2(3.2) vs. 8.4(2.8), p<0.001) and executive performance (Tower of London total moves, 52(38) vs. 34(21), p<0.001). Odor-identification score was a significant predictor of abnormal performance on these cognitive tests after adjustment for age, sex and disease characteristics in logistic regression models.

Conclusions

The relationship between hyposmia, psychosis, and specific cognitive impairments may reflect the anatomic distribution of Lewy pathology and suggests that olfactory dysfunction could be a biomarker of additional extranigral disease. Future prospective studies are warranted to assess whether hyposmia, a very early feature of Parkinson's disease, might be used to predict the appearance of other common non-motor symptoms.

Phosphorylated α-synuclein (PS-129), a protein implicated in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease (PD), was identified by mass spectrometry in human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). A highly sensitive and specific assay was established and used to measure PS-129, along withtotal α-synuclein, in the CSF of patients with PD, other parkinsonian disorders such as multiple system atrophy (MSA) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), and healthy individuals (a total of ~600 samples). PS-129 CSF concentrations correlated weakly with PD severity and, when combined with total α-synuclein CSF concentrations, contributed to distinguishing PD from MSA and PSP. Further rigorous validation in independent cohorts of patients, especially those where samples have been collected longitudinally, will determine whether PS-129 CSF concentrations will be useful for diagnosing PD and for monitoring PD severity and progression.

Questions exist regarding the validity of patient-reporting of psychiatric symptoms in Parkinson’s disease (PD). We assessed observer variability and validity in reporting of impulse control disorder (ICD) symptoms in PD by using the Questionnaire for Impulsive-Compulsive Disorders in Parkinson’s Disease (QUIP). PD patients and their informants (71 pairs) completed the QUIP to assess four ICDs (compulsive gambling, buying, sexual behavior, and eating) in patients. Trained raters then administered a diagnostic interview. Sensitivity of the QUIP for a diagnosed ICD was 100% for both patient- and informant-completed instruments, and specificity was 75% for both raters. Approximately 40% of patients without an ICD diagnosis had a positive QUIP, suggesting that many PD patients experience subsyndromal ICD symptoms that require ongoing monitoring. Agreement between patient- and informant-reporting of any ICD behaviors on the QUIP was moderate (kappa = 0.408), and for individual ICDs was highest for gambling (kappa = 0.550). Overall, a negative QUIP from either the patient or informant rules out the possibility of an ICD, while a positive QUIP requires a follow-up diagnostic interview and ongoing monitoring to determine if symptoms currently are, or in the future become, clinically significant.

Purpose

A range of impulse control disorders (ICDs) are reported to occur in Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, alterations in brain activity at rest and during risk taking occurring with ICDs in PD are not well understood.

Methods

We used both arterial spin labeling (ASL) perfusion fMRI to directly quantify resting cerebral blood flow (CBF) and blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) fMRI to measure neural responses to risk taking during performance on the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART).

Results

18 PD patients, either with a diagnosis of one or more ICDs (N=9) or no lifetime ICD history (N=9), participated. BOLD fMRI data demonstrated that PD patients without an ICD activate the mesocorticolimbic pathway during risk taking. Compared with non-ICD patients, ICD patients demonstrated significantly diminished BOLD activity in the right ventral striatum during risk taking and significantly reduced resting CBF in the right ventral striatum.

Conclusion

ICDs in PD are associated with reduced right ventral striatal activity at rest and diminished striatal activation during risk taking, suggesting that a common neural mechanism may underlie ICDs in individuals with PD and those without PD. Thus, treatments for ICDs in non-PD patients warrant consideration in PD patients with ICDs.

Objectives

A range of psychiatric symptoms and cognitive deficits occur in Parkinson’s disease (PD), and symptom overlap and co-morbidity complicate the classification of non-motor symptoms. The objective of this study was to use analytic-based approaches to classify psychiatric and cognitive symptoms in PD.

Design

Cross-sectional evaluation of a convenience sample of patients in specialty care.

Setting

Two outpatient movement disorders centers at the University of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Participants

177 patients with mild-moderate idiopathic PD and without significant global cognitive impairment.

Measurements

Subjects were assessed with an extensive psychiatric, neuropsychological, and neurological battery. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to statistically delineate group-level symptom profiles across measures of psychiatric and cognitive functioning. Predictors of class membership were also examined.

Results

Results from the LCA indicated that a four-class solution best fit the data. 32.3% of the sample had good psychiatric and normal cognitive functioning, 17.5% had significant psychiatric co-morbidity but normal cognition, 26.0% had few psychiatric symptoms but had poorer cognitive functioning across a range of cognitive domains, and 24.3% had both significant psychiatric co-morbidity and poorer cognitive functioning. Age, disease severity, and medication use predicted class membership.

Conclusions

LCA delineates four classes of patients in mild-moderate PD, three of which experience significant non-motor impairments and comprise over two-thirds of patients. Neuropsychiatric symptoms and cognitive deficits follow distinct patterns in PD, and further study is needed to determine if these classes are generalizable, stable, predict function, quality of life and long-term outcomes, and are amenable to treatment at a class level.

Objective

As no comprehensive assessment instrument for impulse control disorders (ICDs) in Parkinson’s disease (PD) exists, the aim of this study was to design and assess the psychometric properties of a self-administered screening questionnaire for ICDs and other compulsive behaviors in PD.

Methods

The Questionnaire for Impulsive-Compulsive Disorders in Parkinson’s Disease (QUIP) has 3 sections: Section 1 assesses four ICDs (involving gambling, sexual, buying, and eating behaviors), Section 2 other compulsive behaviors (punding, hobbyism and walkabout), and Section 3 compulsive medication use. For validation, a convenience sample of 157 PD patients at 4 movement disorders centers first completed the QUIP, and then was administered a diagnostic interview by a trained rater blinded to the QUIP results. A shortened instrument (QUIP-S) was then explored.

Results

The discriminant validity of the QUIP was high for each disorder or behavior (receiver operating characteristic area under the curve [ROC AUC]: gambling=0.95, sexual behavior=0.97, buying=0.87, eating=0.88, punding=0.78, hobbyism=0.93, walkabout=0.79). On post hoc analysis, the QUIP-S ICD section had similar properties (ROC AUC: gambling=0.95, sexual behavior=0.96, buying=0.87, eating=0.88). When disorders/behaviors were combined, the sensitivity of the QUIP and QUIP-S to detect an individual with any disorder was 96% and 94%, respectively.

Conclusions

Scores on the QUIP appear to be valid as a self-assessment screening instrument for a range of ICDs and other compulsive behaviors that occur in PD, and a shortened version may perform as well as the full version. A positive screen should be followed by a comprehensive, clinical interview to determine the range and severity of symptoms, as well as need for clinical management.

OBJECTIVES

To examine Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) performance in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) with “normal” global cognition according to Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional comparison of the MoCA and the MMSE.

SETTING

Two movement disorders centers at the University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

PARTICIPANTS

A convenience sample of 131 patients with idiopathic PD who were screened for cognitive and psychiatric complications.

MEASUREMENTS

Subjects were administered the MoCA and MMSE, and only subjects defined as having a normal age- and education-adjusted MMSE score were included in the analyses (N = 100). As previously recommended in patients without PD, a MoCA score less than 26 was used to indicate the presence of at least mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

RESULTS

Mean MMSE and MoCA scores ± standard deviation were 28.8 ± 1.1 and 24.9 ± 3.1, respectively. More than half (52.0%) of subjects with normal MMSE scores had cognitive impairment according to their MoCA score. Impairments were seen in numerous cognitive domains, including memory, visuospatial and executive abilities, attention, and language. Predictors of cognitive impairment on the MoCA using univariate analyses were male sex, older age, lower educational level, and greater disease severity; older age was the only predictor in a multivariate model.

CONCLUSION

Approximately half of patients with PD with a normal MMSE score have cognitive impairment based on the recommended MoCA cutoff score. These results suggest that MCI is common in PD and that the MoCA is a more sensitive instrument than the MMSE for its detection.

Recent studies have linked dopamine agonist (DA) usage with the development of impulse control disorders (ICDs) in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Little is known about optimal management strategies or the long-term outcomes of affected patients. To report on the clinical interventions and long-term outcomes of PD patients who developed an ICD after DA initiation. Subjects contacted by telephone for a follow-up interview after a mean time period of 29.2 months. They were administered a modified Minnesota Impulse Disorder Interview for compulsive buying, gambling, and sexuality, and also self-rated changes in their ICD symptomatology. Baseline and follow-up dopamine replacement therapy use was recorded and verified by chart review. Of 18 subjects, 15 (83.3%) participated in the follow-up interview. At follow-up, patients were receiving a significantly lower DA levodopa equivalent daily dosage (LEDD) (Z = -3.1, P = 0.002) and a higher daily levodopa dosage (Z = -1.9, P = 0.05), but a similar total LEDD dosage (Z = -0.47, P = 0.64) with no changes in Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale motor score (Z = -1.3, P = 0.19). As part of ICD management, 12 (80.0%) patients discontinued or significantly decreased DA treatment, all of whom experienced full or partial remission of ICD symptoms by self-report, and 10 (83.3%) of whom no longer met diagnostic criteria for an ICD. For PD patients who develop an ICD in the context of DA treatment, discontinuing or significantly decreasing DA exposure, even when offset by an increase in levodopa treatment, is associated with remission of or significant reduction in ICD behaviors without worsening in motor symptoms.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a chronic, disabling illness affecting primarily the elderly and is associated with a high prevalence of depression. Although these are known risk factors for suicidal and death ideation, little is known about the prevalence and correlates of such ideation in PD. A convenience sample of 116 outpatients with idiopathic PD at two movement disorders centers were administered a modified Paykel Scale for suicidal and death ideation, as well as an extensive psychiatric, neuropsychological, and neurological battery. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to determine the correlates of suicidal or death ideation. Current death ideation (28%) or suicide ideation (11%) were present in 30% of the sample, and 4% had a lifetime suicide attempt. On univariate logistic regression analysis, increasing severity of depression (odds ratio = 2.92, 95% CI 2.01-4.24, P < 0.001), impulse control disorder (ICD) behaviors sometime during PD (odds ratio = 6.08, 95% CI 1.90-19.49, P = 0.002), and psychosis (odds ratio = 2.45, 95% CI 1.05-5.69, P = 0.04) were associated with either ideation. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, only increasing severity of depressive symptoms (odds ratio = 2.76, 95% CI 1.88-4.07, P < 0.001) predicted suicidal or death ideation. In conclusion, active suicidal or death ideation occurs in up to one-third of PD patients. Comorbid psychiatric disorders, more than PD-related disease variables, are associated with this ideation, highlighting the need for a comprehensive approach to the clinical care of PD patients.

Objective

To determine the frequency and correlates of impulse control disorders (ICDs) in Parkinson’s disease (PD).

Design

An unstructured screening interview for ICDs (compulsive gambling, buying, and sexual behavior) followed by a telephone-administered structured interview for screen-positive patients.

Setting

Two university-affiliated movement disorders centers.

Participants

A convenience sample of 272 patients with idiopathic PD who were screened for psychiatric complications.

Main Outcome Measures

Presence of compulsive gambling, buying, or sexual behavior as assessed by the Minnesota Impulsive Disorders Interview.

Results

Eighteen (6.6%) PD patients met criteria for an ICD at some point during the course of PD, including 11 (4.0%) with an active ICD. Compulsive gambling and compulsive sexual behavior were equally common. In a multivariate model, treatment with a dopamine agonist (P = .01) and a history of ICD symptomatology prior to PD onset (P = .02) predicted current ICD. There were no differences between the dopamine agonists in their association with ICDs (P = .21), and daily doses of dopamine agonists were higher in patients with an ICD than in dopamine agonist-treated patients without an ICD (P < .001).

Conclusions

PD patients treated with a dopamine agonist should be made aware of the risk of developing an ICD and monitored clinically. As dopamine agonists are increasing being used for other indications, future research should assess the dopamine agonist-associated risk for ICDs in other populations.

Background

The cognitive profile of early onset Parkinson’s disease (EOPD) has not been clearly defined. Mutations in the parkin gene are the most common genetic risk factor for EOPD and may offer information about the neuropsychological pattern of performance in both symptomatic and asymptomatic mutation carriers.

Methods

EOPD probands and their first-degree relatives who did not have Parkinson’s disease (PD) were genotyped for mutations in the parkin gene and administered a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. Performance was compared between EOPD probands with (N=43) and without (N=52) parkin mutations. The same neuropsychological battery was administered to 217 first-degree relatives to assess neuropsychological function in individuals who carry parkin mutations but do not have PD.

Results

No significant differences in neuropsychological test performance were found between parkin carrier and non-carrier probands. Performance also did not differ between EOPD non-carriers and carrier subgroups (i.e. heterozygotes, compound heterozygotes/homozygotes). Similarly, no differences were found among unaffected family members across genotypes. Mean neuropsychological test performance was within normal range in all probands and relatives.

Conclusions

Carriers of parkin mutations, whether or not they have PD, do not perform differently on neuropsychological measures as compared to non-carriers. The cognitive functioning of parkin carriers over time warrants further study.