COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING IN PARKINSONS-DISEASE PATIENTS WITH LATERALIZED MOTOR SIGNS

Eleven patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and predominantly right- sided motor signs, 12 patients with PD and predominantly left-sided si gns, and 11 demographically matched healthy controls were compared on tests assessing a range of cognitive and affective functions. Assuming a novel approach, our test battery was composed of measures drawn fro m ones previously used in the hemiparkinson's disease and lateralized PD literature. The two patient groups were similar in illness duration , severity of motor signs, and degree of lateralized motor deficits. S tatistical analyses did not reveal significant differences between pat ient groups, consistent with other studies that have failed to find di fferences in neuropsychological functioning between PD patients with r ight- and left-sided motor signs.