AGE OF DISEASE ONSET INFLUENCES COGNITION IN PARKINSONS-DISEASE

It is controversial whether age of disease onset is related to cogniti ve decline in Parkinson's disease (PD). We administered 7 cognitive me asures assessing visuospatial skills, memory, and executive functions to 222 patients with idiopathic PD and 108 normal control participants . Regression analyses demonstrated that older age of disease onset con sistently predicted cognitive decline above and beyond normative aging and duration of illness. These findings suggest that older age of dis ease onset is a critical determinant of cognitive deterioration in PD.