Neuropsychiatric symptoms of patients with progressive supranuclear palsy and Parkinson's disease

Neuropsychiatric symptoms are common in basal ganglia disorders and may hav e severe clinical consequences. The authors compared the neuropsychiatric m anifestations of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and progressive sup ranuclear palsy (PSP). All 103 PD patients and 27 of the 61 PSP patients we re taking dopaminergic agents. PSP patients showed significantly move apath y and disinhibit ion. Patients with PD had higher frequency of hallucinatio ns, delusions, and depression. These results suggest that PSP patients show symptoms compatible with lesioned orbitofrontal and medial frontal circuit s, such as disinhibition and apathy, whereas PD patients show symptoms asso ciated with monoaminergic disturbances, such as psychosis and depression.