Subjective and objective assessment of executive functions in Parkinson's disease

AbstractImpairments in executive functions (EF) in Parkinson's disease (PD) will have a negative influence on daily life. For the assessment objective and subjective measurement approaches are used. It is however unknown whether these approaches contribute in a different way to the assessment of EF in PD. Thirty-nine PD patients and 24 healthy participants completed the Dysexecutive questionnaire (DEX; subjective measure) and the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB; objective measure). PD patients showed impaired EF (FAB) and reported more problems with EF in daily life (DEX) than healthy participants. The performance on the FAB could however not be explained by the problems with EF that were reported by PD patients (DEX) and vice versa. In conclusion, not all PD patients who show impairments in EF report them and not all PD patients who report problems with EF in daily life show impairments according to objective measurement. Both measures thus contribute in a different way to the assessment of EF in PD patients. However, it has to be considered that the FAB is not a critical test to assess cognition in PD, since these patients also suffer from posterior abnormalities including memory and visuo-spatial deficits which are strong predictors for PD dementia

Gum chewing and cognition:an overview

In recent years, there was a debate about the effects of gum chewing on various aspects of cognitive functioning. In this review, the results of previous studies are presented and summarized. There is a clear indication that gum chewing can improve various aspects of cognitive functioning including memory, attention and both executive and intellectual functioning. However, there is also clear evidence that chewing gum during cognitive tasks can adversely affect task performance. Therefore, it can be concluded that the replication of (beneficial or detrimental) effects of gum chewing on cognition has been proven to be very difficult. Consequently, the robustness of reported effects of gum chewing on cognition has to be questioned. Suggestions for future research are given

Effects of excision of a mass lesion of the precentral region of the left hemisphere on disturbances of graphomotor output

In the present study, the effect of neurosurgery on graphomotor output of a right-handed female patient with a mass lesion of the precentral region of the left frontal lobe was reported. For examination of handwriting movements a digitizing tablet was used. Preoperatively, the patient showed longer movement times than healthy subjects and patients with lesions of the left frontal lobe without involvement of the precentral region. Furthermore, the analysis of kinematic data revealed a severe dysfluency of her handwriting. Postoperatively, a significant improvement of writing time and fluency of handwriting was observed. Since the integrity of handwriting plays an important role in everyday functioning, disturbances of handwriting movements should be objectified and reassessed in follow-up assessment using new techniques such as digitizing tablets