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- Title
The assessment of executive functions to test the integrity of the nigrostriatal network: A pilot study.
- Authors
Rosario Ilardi, Ciro; di Maio, Girolamo; Villano, Ines; Messina, Giovanni; Monda, Vincenzo; Messina, Antonietta; Porro, Chiara; Antonietta Panaro, Maria; Gamboz, Nadia; Iavarone, Alessandro; La Marra, Marco
- Abstract
Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor and non-motor symptoms. The latter mainly include affective, sleep, and cognitive deficits. Non-demented PD patients often demonstrate impairments in several executive domains following neuropsychological evaluation. The current pilot study aims at assessing the discriminatory power of the Frontal Assessment Battery-15 (FAB15) in differentiating (i) non-demented PD patients and healthy controls and (ii) PD patients with more and less pronounced motor symptoms. Methods: Thirty-nine non-demented early-stage PD patients in the “on” dopamine state (26 females, mean age = 64.51 years, SD = 6.47, mean disease duration = 5.49 years, SD = 2.28) and 39 healthy participants (24 females, mean age = 62.60 years, SD = 5.51) were included in the study. All participants completed the FAB15. Motor symptoms of PD patients were quantified via the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale-Part III (UPDRS-Part III) and Hoehn and Yahr staging scale (H&Y). Results: The FAB15 score, adjusted according to normative data for sex, age, and education, proved to be sufficiently able to discriminate PD patients from healthy controls (AUC = 0.69 [95% CI 0.60–0.75], SE = 0.06, p = 0.04, optimal cutoff = 11.29). Conversely, the battery lacked sufficient discriminative capability to differentiate PD patients based on the severity of motor symptoms. Conclusion: The FAB15 may be a valid tool for distinguishing PD patients from healthy controls. However, it might be less sensitive in identifying clinical phenotypes characterized by visuospatial impairments resulting from posteroparietal and/or temporal dysfunctions. In line with previous evidence, the battery demonstrated to be not expendable in the clinical practice for monitoring the severity of PD-related motor symptoms.
- Subjects
EXECUTIVE function; MOVEMENT disorders; FUNCTIONAL assessment; PARKINSON'S disease; NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL tests; PILOT projects
- Publication
Frontiers in Psychology, 2023, Vol 14, p1
- ISSN
1664-1078
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1121251