Multitasking Deficits in Patients with Early Parkinson's Disease

ZEBALLOS N.; ANABEL CHADE; GONZALO GOMEZ AREVALO; TERESA TORRALVA; FACUNDO MANES; MARIA ROCA

San Diego

Congreso; Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology; 2013

American Academy of Neurology

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the present study was to assess patients with Parkinson´s disease with a more ecological task. BACKGROUND: Detection and treatment of non motor symptoms in Parkinson´s disease is vital to improve the quality of life of the patients and their families. Even though the cognitive impairment in early stages of the disease may be hard to detect, the cognitive profile of patients with Parkinson´s disease usually includes difficulties in cognitive functions linked to a correct functioning of the prefrontal cortex. A number of studies have shown frontal deficits in patients with Parkinson´s disease, however, only one publication shows deficits in Multitasking (Perfetti 2000), function linked to the frontal lobe. DESIGN/METHODS: The performance of 29 patients with Early Parkinson´s disease was compared with 22 control subjects using the Hotel Task. All the tasks require organizational and time management skills. RESULTS: Results indicate that there were significant differences in the performance of the Hotel Task between controls and patients with Early Parkinson´s disease (p