Comparative sensitivity of the MoCA and Mattis Dementia Rating Scale-2 in Parkinson's disease.

Background: Clinicians and researchers commonly use global cognitive assessments to screen for impairment. Currently there are no published studies directly comparing the sensitivity and specificity of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment and Mattis Dementia Rating Scale-2 in PD. The objective of this study was to identify the relative sensitivity and specificity of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment and Mattis Dementia Rating Scale-2 in PD.

Dopamine-related dissociation of cortical and subcortical brain activations in cognitively unimpaired Parkinson's disease patients OFF and ON medications.

Background: Despite dopaminergic depletion that is severe enough to cause the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD), many patients remain cognitively unimpaired. Little is known about brain mechanisms underlying such preserved cognitive abilities and their alteration by dopaminergic medications.

Objectives: We investigated brain activations underlying dopamine-related differences in cognitive function using a unique experimental design with PD patients off and on dopaminergic medications.

Domain-specific accuracy of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment subsections in Parkinson's disease.

Objective: The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is among the most widely adopted screening tools for cognitive impairment because it includes tests in multiple domains and is available in 55 languages. The MoCA is often the only formal cognitive assessment available when comprehensive neuropsychological testing is not practical, such as rural clinical settings or large retrospective and multi-lingual research settings. However, the MoCA domain-specific subsections have never been formally assessed for sensitivity or specificity.

Compensatory neural mechanisms in cognitively unimpaired Parkinson disease.

Objective: Cognitive impairments in Parkinson disease (PD) are thought to be caused in part by dopamine dysregulation. However, even when nigrostriatal dopamine neuron loss is severe enough to cause motor symptoms, many patients remain cognitively unimpaired. It is unclear what brain mechanisms allow these patients to remain cognitively unimpaired despite substantial dopamine dysregulation.

Comparison of the frontal systems behavior scale and neuropsychological tests of executive functioning in predicting instrumental activities of daily living.

Both neuropsychological tests of executive functioning and the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale (FrSBe) consistently predict instrumental activity-of-daily-living capacity. However, the nature of the predictive relationship between the FrSBe and neuropsychological tests of executive functioning has received limited attention. The current study was designed to assess the incremental validity of the FrSBe in predicting instrumental activity-of-daily-living functioning when added to comprehensive testing of executive functioning in a sample of 100 adult general neuropsychological referrals.