•  
  •  
 

INFLUENCE OF EXECUTIVE FUNCTION ON MOVEMENT FUNCTION IN PEOPLE WITH PARKINSON’S DISEASE AND UNIMPAIRED ADULTS

Abstract

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) affects approximately one million people in the United States and is increasing. Decline in motor function including impairments in gait and balance is commonly a symptom of PD. Additionally, the influence of non-motor symptoms such as impaired executive function (planning, short-term memory) on movement function, are not well understood. An increased understanding of the association between motor and non-motor symptoms in people with PD is crucial for maintaining movement function and quality of life for people with PD. PURPOSE: To determine the influence of executive function on movement function in people with PD and unimpaired adults. METHODS: 37 participants (10 young adults (5F, 5M), 13 older adults (6F, 7M), 14 people with PD (7F, 7M)) completed movement and cognitive tasks. Cognitive tasks included the MoCA and MMSE questionnaires, as well as trail making tests (TMT). Movement tasks included the 10m walk, and two novel movements tasks (walking trail making test (WTMT#, WTMTL) replicating the sequence of the TMT). Time to complete tasks (TMT, WTMT) as well as time to walk between targets (WTMT) were recorded. Correlational analysis was conducted to determine associations between motor and non-motor tasks while an ANOVA was conducted to determine differences between groups (p< 0.05). RESULTS: Although time to complete WTMTs did not differ between OA and PD groups, time between targets during WTMT did differ between OA and PD. In the WTMT#, PD had reduced velocity compared to OA at target intervals 5 (OA: 0.72 ± 0.04m/s, PD: 0.56 ± 0.02m/s, p<0.001), 7 (OA: 0.78 ± 0.02m/s, PD: 0.67 ± 0.04m/s, p=0.016), 9 (OA: 0.70 ± 0.1m/s, PD: 0.56 ± 0.03m/s, p=0.032), and 11 (OA: 0.93 ± 0.06m/s, PD: 0.79 ± 0.09m/s, p=0.033 ). CONCLUSION: Although time to complete the WTMT tasks did not differ between OA and PD participants, targets that required greater executive function led to reduced velocities in people with PD. These findings suggest that people with PD may have increased attentional demands when completing tasks that involve greater executive function. Rehabilitation programs that emphasize executive function may be beneficial for people with PD to maintain movement function and quality of life.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS