Early motor-dependent impairments of verbal processing in Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

JUAN FELIPE CARDONA; FACUNDO MANES; ANABEL CHADE; MARÍA ROCA; NATALIA SIERRA; MARÍA ÁNGELES POSE; ALBERTO DUBROVSKY; PÍA ARAVENA; AGUSTÍN IBÁÑEZ

Buenos Aires

Congreso; 14th International Congress of Parkinson´s Disease and Movement Disorders; 2010

The Movement Disorder Society

OBJECTIVE: In an attempt to test the hypothesis of motor influence on verbal processing, a paradigm of reaction times (RTs) based in the action sentence-compatibility effect (ASCE) was applied in Parkinson Disease (PD) and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). BACKGROUND: Cognitive-motor interactions in PD and ALS are an emerging research area of Language. Recent studies suggest verbal deficits in early PD and ALS. A previous reported ASCE was considered in which participants were asked to make judgments on sentences that describe actions performed either with close hands or open hands. The ASCE effect elicit faster responses when the response requires an hand movement in the same direction as the action described by the sentence. DESIGN/METHODS: Early PD patients were diagnosed according to UKPDSBB criteria, UPDRS at H&Y Stage 1-2, and testing in on-state . Early ALS/MND participants fulfilled the criteria for 'probable' or 'definite' MND, and control subjects, matched for age, gender and educational level. Participants performed the kissing and dancing test (K&D) and ASCE paradigm. In addition, Neuropsychological battery was administered. RESULTS: Compared to controls, PD and ALS presented more errors and less hits in the K&D. When compared to controls, no ASCE was observed in the PD and ALS. This result was not explained by a general impairment since the basic distinction (open vs close vs neutral) elicited the same RTs differences as controls in PD and ALS. The ASCE deficit was more accentuated in the Close hand condition in both PD and ALS; but in this last group the performance was more impaired than PD. The motor-language impairment was related to executive functions. CONCLUSIONS: Those results suggest a strong influence of motor impairment on verbal processing in both, PD and ASL, but more accentuated in the last group. The relevance for models of motor influence on language is discussed. Supported by: Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO, Argentina).