[Positive effects of L-dopa on a "marginal" symptomatology observed in parkinsonians]

In some patients with parkinsonism, we have found and, often, cured by L-DOPA: 1) An unfrequent symptomatology (oculomotor, sensory, syncinesias, "Babinski" sign), not included in the classic rating scales. 2) A symptomatology "attributable to frontal lesion": grasping; inability to reproduce a serie of three gestures; inability to react to an audio-visual stimulus by a definited opposite gesture. In such patients, the improvement is in total contrast with the lack of effect of L-DOPA in several patients with frontal lesions, but without parkinsonism. It is possible that the last constatation may contribute: a) to localize more exactly the topography of dopaminergic pathways, b) to approach the respective parts of the cortical and subcortical structures in the programming of the movement.