NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS IN IDIOPATHIC PARKINSONS-DISEASE

Patients with Parkinson's disease can suffer from neuropsychological d eficits which, in most cases, are already demonstrated at the very beg inning (53). Primarily, they are characterized by impairments associat ed with frontal lobe function affecting psychomotor speed and mental f lexibility. Furthermore they show circumscribed impairment of memory f unctions as well as deficits of visuospatial information processing. S ets of neuropsychological dysfunction of that kind are called subcorti cal dementia in the American literature. In addition, Parkinson's dise ase is quite often associated with depressive stales which are indepen dent of the neuropsychological deficits. Application of L-Dopa helps t o improve the cognitive impairment.