title: Neuropsychological deficits associated with destruction of the right nigrostriatal pathway.
abstract: Hemiparkinsonism secondary to a vascular mesencephalic lesion is infrequent; these patients offer an exceptional opportunity to study neuropsychological alterations attributable to unilateral dopaminergic denervation, shedding light on the pathophysiology of cognitive disorders in early-stage idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). From the investigation of our case, we conclude that destruction of the right nigrostriatal pathway is accompanied by deficits in executive functioning and verbal/visual memory similar to those observed in many patients with early-stage idiopathic PD. The more complex neuropsychological dysfunction developed by other PD patients must therefore be related to the additional involvement of other brain structures.
authors.affiliation: Movement Disorders Unit, Department of Neurology, Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital, Granada, Spain. csaez@ujaen.es
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sáez-Zea
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Escamilla-Sevilla
authors.forename: Josefina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martínez-Simón
authors.forename: Marisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arnedo
authors.forename: Adolfo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mínguez-Castellanos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D020367:Iofetamine; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000473:pathology; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D020734:Parkinsonian Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D020367:Iofetamine