Affiliations: I.R.C.C.S. Fondazione Santa Lucia, Roma, Italy | Ospedale S. Eugenio, Roma, Italy | Clinica Neurologica, Università di Roma "Tor
Vergata", Rome, Italy
Note: [] Corresponding author: Alberto Costa, Fondazione IRCCS S. Lucia,
Via Ardeatina 306- 00179, Roma, Italy. Tel.: +39 0651501574; Fax: +39
0651501388; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Growing interest is present in literature on the study of
prospective memory functioning in Parkinson's disease (PD). Current data
indicate that prospective memory may be impaired in PD and a relationship with
general executive dysfunctioning has been suggested. However, although the
dopamine dependency of cognitive dysfunction in PD has been widely
investigated, poor is known on the dopaminergic modulation of PM. In the
present study we explored the effect of acute administration of levodopa on the
performance of a PD sample (n=20) in a time-based
prospective memory task. PD patients were evaluated in the morning after a
12-hour therapy wash-out in two experimental conditions: i) after levodopa
assumption ("on"); ii) without drug administration ("off"). The
experimental task required to execute three uncorrelated actions after 10' for
three consecutive trials. Distinct scores for the spontaneous recall of the
intention to perform the actions (prospective component) and for the correct
execution of the actions (retrospective component) have been computed. Results
showed that in the "off" condition PD patients were selectively impaired on
the prospective component of the task. However, L-dopa administration
significantly improved PD patients' performance actually restoring the
prospective memory deficit. These results support a critical role of
dopaminergic modulation in prospective memory processes in PD patients,
possibly through the replacement of dopamine levels in fronto-striatal
pathways.
