Planning and realisation of complex intentions in patients with Parkinson’s disease

• Published in: Journal of neurology, neurosurgery and psychiatry Vol. 76; no. 11; pp. 1501 - 1505
• Main Authors: Kliegel, M, Phillips, L H, Lemke, U, Kopp, Ute A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 01.11.2005; BMJ; BMJ Publishing Group LTD; BMJ Group
• Subjects: Aged; Amnesia; Attention; Biological and medical sciences; Cognition Disorders - diagnosis; Cognition Disorders - etiology; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Dementia; Event driven simulation; Female; Humans; Inhibition (Psychology); Intelligence tests; Intention; Male; Medical sciences; Memory; Memory Disorders - diagnosis; Middle Aged; Multiple sclerosis and variants. Guillain barré syndrome and other inflammatory polyneuropathies. Leukoencephalitis; Neurology; Neuropsychological Tests; Parkinson Disease - complications; Parkinson's disease; Patients; Planning; prospective memory; Prospective Studies; Retention (Psychology); Retrospective Studies; Severity of Illness Index; Studies; working memory; Human; Nervous system diseases; Central nervous system disease; Parkinson disease; Intention; Degenerative disease; Planning; Cerebral disorder; Extrapyramidal syndrome
• ISSN: 0022-3050; 1468-330X
• DOI: 10.1136/jnnp.2004.051268

Background: There is some evidence that patients with Parkinson’s disease may impaired in prospective memory performance (planning and self initiated realisation of delayed intentions). Little is known about the effect of the disease on distinct phases of prospective memory and the potential mechanisms underlying these effects. Objective: To investigate intention formation, intention retention, intention initiation, and intention execution of patients with Parkinson’s disease and test for the mediating influence of working memory, inhibition, short term retrospective memory, and divided attention. Methods: 16 patients with Parkinson’s disease and 16 age and education matched normal controls were given a complex event based prospective memory task which differentiates four phases of prospective remembering. In addition, participants completed tasks assessing potential cognitive mediators. Results: On the prospective remembering task, Parkinson patients were impaired in the intention formation phase and showed a trend towards impairment in the intention initiation. In contrast, there were no impairments of retrospective intention retention or the fidelity with which the patients executed their previously developed plan. The group effects were related to interindividual differences in working memory span. Conclusions: The results suggest that the planning phase of prospective remembering is specifically impaired in Parkinson’s disease, and that the impairment is related to working memory deficit. In contrast, even when complex intentions have to be remembered, the retrospective storage of intentions to be performed is not impaired.