Does Right-Hand Motor Impairment Affect Performance on Cognitive Testing in Parkinson's Disease?

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Clinical Neurology
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Motor disturbances in the dominant upper extremity are common in People with Parkinson's (PwP).
• These impairments can affect daily tasks like writing and typing.
• They may also influence cognitive test results that involve graphomotor responses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between upper extremity impairment and cognitive test performance in PwP.
• To specifically examine graphomotor versus oral responding tasks.
• To assess this relationship in a clinical sample of PwP undergoing Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS).

Main Methods:

• Retrospective chart review of 80 right-hand dominant PwP before DBS surgery.
• Assessed Right Upper Extremity (RUE) impairment using the MDS-UPDRS Part 3.
• Used non-parametric correlations to analyze RUE impairment against graphomotor (e.g., Trail Making Test) and oral tasks.

Main Results:

• No statistically significant association was found between RUE motor impairment and graphomotor cognitive test performance.
• This suggests that dominant upper extremity motor deficits do not substantially impact these specific cognitive assessments in this population.

Conclusions:

• The minimal impact of dominant RUE impairment on graphomotor tasks is noteworthy.
• These findings support the continued use of graphomotor cognitive tests in clinical and research settings for PwP.
• This is particularly relevant for moderately advanced PwP considering or undergoing DBS.