title: Side and type of initial motor symptom influences visuospatial functioning in Parkinson's disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Visuospatial problems are common in Parkinson's disease (PD) and likely stem from dysfunction in dopaminergic pathways and consequent disruption of cortical functioning. Characterizing the motor symptoms at disease onset provides a method of observing how dysfunction in these pathways influences visuospatial cognition. We examined two types of motor characteristics: Body side (left or right) and type of initial symptom (tremor or symptom other than tremor).
  
  
  METHODS
  31 non-demented patients with PD, 16 with left-side onset (LPD) and 15 with right-side onset (RPD), as well as 17 healthy control participants (HC). The PD group was also divided by type of initial motor symptom, 15 having tremor as the initial symptom and 16 having an initial symptom other than tremor. Visuospatial function was assessed with the Clock Drawing Test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the four Clock Drawing scoring methods used, the Rouleau method showed sensitivity to subgroup differences. As predicted, the LPD and non-tremor subgroups, but not the other subgroups, performed more poorly than the HC group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings provide further evidence for differences in cognition between these subtypes of PD and highlight the importance of considering disease subtypes when examining cognition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Seichepine
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA Department of Psychology, Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Sandy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Neargarder
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Sigurros
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Davidsdottir
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Gretchen O
authors.initials: GO
authors.lastname: Reynolds
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cronin-Golomb
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications*; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Functional laterality; cognition; neuropsychology; parkinsonian; spatial behavior