Abstract

Parkinson's disease (P.D.) has long been thought of as a single disorder. Recent research involving neurochemistry, neurophysiology, and detailed analysis of symptoms, have created a basis for questioning the concept that P.D. is a singular disorder. Literature suggests there may be two primary subtypes (with the possibility of others). The two probable subtypes are hyperkinetic, in which tremor is the predominate symptom and akinetic, in which, gait freezing and postural instability predominate.

In both of these pathological manifestations, several investigators have noted cognitive deficits including attention. The differences in symptomotology and neuropathology attributed to these probable subtypes suggest that there may be differences in degree and specific symptomotology of attentional deficits.

This study hypothesized that both hyperkinetic and akinetic subtypes of Parkinson's disease would differ from aged-matched controls in degree of attentional deficits and the P.D. subtypes would differ in the components of attention assessed using the Test of Everyday Attention.

The results confirmed that P.D. patients do show deficits in attentional processing when compared to healthy aged matched controls. Akinetic patients demonstrated deficits in selective attention, sustained attention, and auditory working memory. Hyperkinetic patients showed deficits in selective attention but did not differ significantly from healthy controls on sustained attention and auditory working memory.

LLU Discipline

Psychology

Department

Psychology

School

Graduate School

First Advisor

Todd Burley

Second Advisor

Kiti Freier

Third Advisor

Robert Iacono

Fourth Advisor

Louis Jenkins

Fifth Advisor

Matt Riggs

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Level

Ph.D.

Year Degree Awarded

2000

Date (Title Page)

9-2000

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Parkinson Disease -- diagnosis; Neurologic Manifestations; Attention; Parkinson Disease, Symptomatic

Type

Dissertation

Page Count

xii; 110

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

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