Personality Changes After Subthalamic Nucleus Stimulation in Parkinson's Disease.

Background: While deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN-DBS) significantly improves motor deficits in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), it is still unclear whether it affects personality functioning.

Objective: The objective of the present study was to examine personality changes in patients with PD after STN-DBS from the perspectives of both the patients and caregivers. Moreover, by assessing the premorbid personalities of the patients, we tried to determine individual vulnerability to STN-DBS-induced personality changes.

Cholinergic basal forebrain and hippocampal structure influence visuospatial memory in Parkinson's disease.

Visuospatial impairment in Parkinson's disease (PD) heralds the onset of a progressive dementia syndrome and might be associated with cholinergic dysfunction. It remains unclear however, whether degeneration of the cholinergic basal forebrain is directly related to cognitive decline, or whether relationships between this region and cognitive function are mediated by closely related brain structures such as those in the medial temporal lobe. To evaluate relationships between structure of the cholinergic basal forebrain, medial temporal lobe and cognition, 27 PD patients without dementia and 20 controls underwent neuropsychological assessment and MRI.