title: Neuropsychological correlates of L-deprenyl therapy in idiopathic parkinsonism.
abstract: 1. Monoaminergic neurotransmitter systems are known to play an important role in neuropsychological functions and they are impaired in dementia of DAT and PD. 2. L-deprenyl is a monoamine-enhancing drug which at low doses selectively inhibits MAO-B, an enzyme whose brain activity has been reported to increase in normal aging and neurodegenerative dementing disorders. 3. The authors studied the effects of L-deprenyl, 10 mg/day, on several cognitive domains in idiopathic parkinsonians without dementia. Ten out-patients, treated with levodopa plus DDI, were tested before receiving L-deprenyl and retested six months after they had been treated with the drug. A control group of ten parkinsonian out-patients treated with only levodopa plus DDI, matched for age, educational level, severity and duration of extrapyramidal disease, was tested by the same neuropsychological battery and retested after a comparable time interval. 4. Statistically significant changes were noted in the verbal and visuospatial learning performances of PD patients treated with the combination of L-deprenyl and levodopa.
authors.affiliation: Clinica Neurologica Università di Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Finali
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Piccirilli
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Piccinin
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology; D007980:Levodopa / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D012642:Selegiline / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D012642:Selegiline; D007980:Levodopa