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Neurofunctional correlates of attention rehabilitation in Parkinson's disease: an explorative study.
- Source :
-
Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology [Neurol Sci] 2014 Aug; Vol. 35 (8), pp. 1173-80. Date of Electronic Publication: 2014 Feb 20. - Publication Year :
- 2014
-
Abstract
- The effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation (CR) in Parkinson's disease (PD) is in its relative infancy, and nowadays there is insufficient information to support evidence-based clinical protocols. This study is aimed at testing a validated therapeutic strategy characterized by intensive computer-based attention-training program tailored to attention deficits. We further investigated the presence of synaptic plasticity by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Using a randomized controlled study, we enrolled eight PD patients who underwent a CR program (Experimental group) and seven clinically/demographically-matched PD patients who underwent a placebo intervention (Control group). Brain activity was assessed using an 8-min resting state (RS) fMRI acquisition. Independent component analysis and statistical parametric mapping were used to assess the effect of CR on brain function. Significant effects were detected both at a phenotypic and at an intermediate phenotypic level. After CR, the Experimental group, in comparison with the Control group, showed a specific enhanced performance in cognitive performance as assessed by the SDMT and digit span forward. RS fMRI analysis for all networks revealed two significant groups (Experimental vs Control) × time (T0 vs T1) interaction effects on the analysis of the attention (superior parietal cortex) and central executive neural networks (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex). We demonstrated that intensive CR tailored for the impaired abilities impacts neural plasticity and improves some aspects of cognitive deficits of PD patients. The reported neurophysiological and behavioural effects corroborate the benefits of our therapeutic approach, which might have a reliable application in clinical management of cognitive deficits.
- Subjects :
- Cognition Disorders etiology
Female
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Memory, Short-Term
Middle Aged
Nerve Net
Neuronal Plasticity
Neuropsychological Tests
Parietal Lobe pathology
Parietal Lobe physiopathology
Parkinson Disease psychology
Phenotype
Prefrontal Cortex pathology
Prefrontal Cortex physiopathology
Principal Component Analysis
Psychomotor Performance
Single-Blind Method
Space Perception physiology
Visual Perception physiology
Attention physiology
Cognition Disorders rehabilitation
Parkinson Disease rehabilitation
Therapy, Computer-Assisted
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1590-3478
- Volume :
- 35
- Issue :
- 8
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 24554416
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-014-1666-z