[Neuropsychological evaluation can contribute to the diagnosis of movement disorders]

Neurodegenerative diseases of the extrapyramidal system can be difficult to identify, particularly those with discrete symptoms or a non-specific or polymorphous complex motor expression. Nevertheless, most of the patients with these diseases present a particular cognitive pattern so the neuropsychological evaluation can contribute significantly to diagnosis. Progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration, Huntington's disease, and Lewy body dementia can be easily identified on the basis of their distinctive motor and cognitive features. Clinical manifestations may be less specific in other diseases such as striatonigric degeneration or idiopathic Parkinson's disease. We present here the characteristic neuropsychological features of each of these diseases and their contribution to diagnosis.