Abstract
Objective: Patients with Parkinson's disease have prospective memory impairments. However, little is known about distinct phases of prospective memory in these patients. This study was designed to elucidate the specific phase(s) of prospective memory that are impaired in patients with Parkinson's disease.Methods: The study included 31 Parkinson's disease patients and 27 healthy controls. The four phases of prospective memory (intention formation, retention, initiation, and execution) were examined in a complex prospective memory task. In this task, the participants were asked to form a sophisticated plan for performing six subtasks to obtain the highest score, and then execute the plan following a cue embedded in a questionnaire. Global cognitive function and relevant cognitive abilities, including attention, short-term memory, working memory, and inhibition, were also evaluated during the retention phase of the prospective memory task.Results: Intention formation was impaired in Parkinson's disease patients (p < 0.001 vs. healthy controls). This impairment could not be attributed to deficits in other cognitive functions. The score of intention execution was also lower in Parkinson's disease patients (p = 0.004 vs. healthy controls). Such a difference was related to working memory deficits in Parkinson's disease. The intention retention and initiation were intact in Parkinson's disease patients. The score of intention execution correlated negatively with disease severity and disease duration.Conclusions: Prospective memory in Parkinson's disease patients is impaired at the phase of intention formation. The worsening performance of intention execution in Parkinson's disease may be related to working memory deficits. In addition, prospective memory impairment might progress with increasing disease duration and severity.
Highlights
Prospective memory (PM) is defined as remembering to perform intended actions in the future
Patients with major depressive disorder were excluded, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) scores were higher in the PD patients than the controls, despite the fact that all the PD patients’ HRSD scores were ≤8 (Table 1)
After controlling for age, sex, Digit Span Test (DST), working memory and the Stroop test, the intention formation performance was still significantly worse in PD patients (p < 0.001 vs. healthy controls; β = 0.767, 95% CI: 3.765–8.124)
Summary
Prospective memory (PM) is defined as remembering to perform intended actions in the future. It is critical for everyday life, and a deficit can result in severe consequences (Kliegel and Martin, 2003; Altgassen et al, 2007). Prospective Memory in Parkinson’s Disease external event occurs, while TBPM is remembering to perform a task at a certain time (Einstein and McDaniel, 1990). In addition to retrospective memory, PM cognitive processing requires a range of different executive functions in the prefrontal lobe, including planning, working memory, attention, strategizing, inhibition, mental flexibility, and task switching (Kliegel et al, 2011)
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