CEREBRAL ACCOMPANIMENTS TO SIMPLE AND CHOICE-REACTION TASKS IN PARKINSONS-DISEASE

In order to clarify the nature and basis of the delayed reaction time that occurs in Parkinson's disease, we measured reaction times and cer ebral responses in six parkinsonian patients and six normal age-matche d control subjects. Each participated in one simple reaction task and three choice reaction tasks of different complexity. The reaction time s were delayed in the parkinsonian patients in all conditions but espe cially in the more difficult choice tasks. In addition, the cerebral r esponses showed delayed latencies of the N1, N2, and P3 components of the event-related cerebral potential. These findings are similar to th e changes that we observed previously in patients with both Parkinson' s disease and dementia, and suggest that bradyphrenia may account, in part, for the slowing of response time in Parkinson's disease. (C) 199 8 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.