USE OF MEMORY AND CONCENTRATION EVALUATION IN DISTINGUISHING PROGRESSIVE SUPRANUCLEAR PALSY FROM PARKINSONS-DISEASE

Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and Parkinson's disease (PD) can be difficult to distinguish in the early stages. This study assessed t he utility of neuropsychological assessment in this differential diagn osis among 22 male patients, 15 of whom had PD and seven of whom had P SP. All patients had been diagnosed by clinical neurologic exam and SP ECT scan. A battery of tests was administered to each patient. The PSP patients performed worse than the PD patients on Digit Span and the S elective Reminding Test (SRT). Sensitivity. specificity, and predictiv e value (positive and negative) tests showed SRT, Trail Making A, and Digit Span to be the most robust differentiators between the two group s. Digit Span forward and Trail Making A showed the strongest negative predictive values, suggesting that an attentional deficit may underli e the cognitive differences between the two groups.