Executive functions and memory in Parkinson's disease patients with Deep Brain Stimulation

Abstract

BackgroundSeveral studies have investigated the cognitive effects of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, studies on the influence of individual variables on cognitive performance in DBS are scarce. This study aimed to identify the association between demographic characteristics (age, schooling, and activities of daily living), executive functions, and memory performance in a group of PD patients with and without DBS. Methods76 participants were subdivided into three groups: 30 healthy people (control group), 30 diagnosed with PD treated only with drugs (drug group), and 16 with PD treated with DBS (DBS group). Executive functions and memory were assessed using the following instruments: Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, Trail Making Test A and B, Digits Span, and Stroop Test. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and exploratory linear regression were used for data analysis. ResultsANOVA showed significant differences between the control, drug, and DBS groups. However, the exploratory regression analysis identified a significant association of the variables including age, schooling, and activity of daily living with the performance of executive functions and memory only in the DBS group. ConclusionThe results showed that the performance of memory and executive functions was associated with demographic characteristics only in patients treated with DBS.