title: Mild cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease.
abstract: Prospective studies conducted during the last decade have shown that the majority of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) develop dementia. In addition, using a variety of definitions and methods, more recent research suggests that approximately a quarter of PD patients without dementia have mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI). Furthermore, several studies have shown that approximately 20% have MCI even at time of diagnosis of PD. The typical cognitive deficits include visuospatial, attentional, and executive deficits, but memory deficits have also been shown. The etiology of PD-MCI is not known, but it is likely that mechanisms known to contribute to dementia in PD (ie, limbic and cortical Lewy bodies, amyloid plaques, and cholinergic deficits) play a role, in addition to dysfunction of dopaminergic frontostriatal circuits. PD-MCI predicts a shorter time to dementia, and preliminary evidence suggests that this is particularly true for posterior cognitive deficits. There are currently no systematic clinical trials in PD-MCI.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Age-Related Diseases, Division of Psychiatry, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway. daarsland@gmail.com
authors.forename: Dag
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Aarsland
authors.forename: Kolbjørn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Brønnick
authors.forename: Tormod
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fladby
mesh_terms: D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000737:chemistry; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents / Q000172:deficiency; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents