title: Prepulse inhibition is associated with attention, processing speed, and 123I-FP-CIT SPECT in Parkinson's disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Prepulse inhibition is a measure of sensorimotor gating, which reflects the ability to filter or 'gate' irrelevant information. Prepulse inhibition is dramatically altered in basal ganglia disorders associated with dysfunction in the midbrain dopaminergic system, and corresponding cognitive information processing deficits such as slowed processing speed. Parkinson's disease is characterised by the degeneration of the midbrain dopaminergic system and is associated with cognitive dysfunction, including slowed information processing. Although sensorimotor processes in Parkinson's disease have been extensively studied in relation to motor function, less is known about the potential role of sensorimotor processes in cognitive function.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We investigated the relationship between prepulse inhibition, cognition and nigrostriatal dysfunction, as measured with 123I-FP-CIT-SPECT scanning, in patients with Parkinson's disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  38 Parkinson patients were assessed with prepulse inhibition, neuropsychological tests, and neurological investigation. A subset of these patients underwent 123I-FP-CIT-SPECT scanning.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with a higher level of prepulse inhibition performed better on cognitive measures tapping attention and processing speed than patients with a lower level of prepulse inhibition. Furthermore, there were significant correlations between prepulse inhibition and 123I-FP-CIT uptake in the striatum.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that the level of prepulse inhibition is related to the efficiency of information processing in Parkinson's disease, and to the density of dopamine transporters in the striatum.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Bispebjerg University Hospital, Copenhagen NV, Denmark Danish Center for Sleep Medicine, Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Glostrup Hospital, Glostrup, Denmark.
authors.forename: Marielle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zoetmulder
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Bispebjerg University Hospital, Copenhagen NV, Denmark.
authors.forename: Heidi B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Biernat
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Glostrup Hospital, Glostrup, Denmark.
authors.forename: Miki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nikolic
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Bispebjerg University Hospital, Copenhagen NV, Denmark.
authors.forename: Lise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Korbo
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Bispebjerg University Hospital, Copenhagen NV, Denmark.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Friberg
authors.affiliation: Danish Center for Sleep Medicine, Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Glostrup Hospital, Glostrup, Denmark.
authors.forename: Poul J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Jennum
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001288:Attention; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000523:psychology*; D013216:Reflex, Startle; D055139:Sensory Gating; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon; D014326:Tropanes
chemical_list: D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D014326:Tropanes; C087552:2-carbomethoxy-8-(3-fluoropropyl)-3-(4-iodophenyl)tropane
keywords: Dopamine system; Parkinson's disease; Prepulse inhibition; SPECT