Cognitive changes following subthalamic nucleus stimulation in two patients with Parkinson disease.

Full Abstract

The limits of a drug therapy in severe forms of Parkinson disease have led to refining neurosurgery on the basal ganglia. Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus has been recognized as one of the most promising techniques to decrease "off" motor symptoms and motor fluctuations, allowing a reduction of drug therapy and limiting side effects of the drugs. There is still open debate on the possible consequences of chronic subthalamic stimulation in other ways, apart from motor symptoms, of general cognitive performance. We examined and followed two patients with Parkinson disease for 9 mo. after surgery for deep stimulation, studying their cognitive performances. There is a general amelioration of cognitive performances, in particular as far as linguistic capabilities is concerned. We discuss the possible significance of these results, reminding strenuously that only two patients were involved, so the potential for generalization is seriously limited.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Moretti, Rita (R); Torre, Paola (P); Antonello, Rodolfo M (RM); Capus, Livio (L); Gioulis, Manuela (M); Marsala, Sandro Zambito (SZ); Cazzato, Giuseppe (G); Bava, Antonio (A);

Affiliation: Dipartimento fi Fisiologia e Patologia, UCO di Clinica Neurologia, Università degli Studi di Trieste, Italy. moretti(-atsign-)univ.trieste.it

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Perceptual and motor skills (Percept Mot Skills), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Oct; vol 95 (issue 2) : pp 477-86

Dates: Created 2002/11/18; Completed 2003/03/27; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 12434839, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Aged
Attention - physiology
Electric Stimulation Therapy
Electrodes, Implanted
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Male
Mental Recall - physiology

Mental Recall - physiology
Middle Aged
Neuropsychological Tests - statistics & numerical data
Parkinson Disease - physiopathology; therapy
Problem Solving - physiology
Reaction Time - physiology
Subthalamic Nucleus - physiopathology
Verbal Behavior - physiology

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.