title: Parkinson's disease and depression: the relationship to disability and personality.
abstract: In a study of 104 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and 61 control subjects with equal disability scores, PD patients had higher depression scores (P < 0.001) than control subjects. Functional disability was correlated with depression in PD and, in a regression analysis, explained 9% of the variance in depression (P < 0.001). Depression was not correlated with novelty seeking, a personality trait related to dopaminergic pleasure and reward systems. Harm avoidance, a trait related to central serotonergic systems, was, however, correlated with depression (P < 0.001) and explained 31% of the variance in depression scores. Results support the hypotheses that both physiologic and psychologic factors contribute to depression seen in these patients and that serotonergic function plays a more critical role than dopaminergic function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson University Medical School, New Brunswick.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Menza
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Mark
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D000368:Aged; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D004298:Dopamine / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D010551:Personality; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012701:Serotonin / Q000502:physiology; D012803:Sick Role
chemical_list: D012701:Serotonin; D004298:Dopamine