SOMATO-PSYCHOLOGIC STUDIES IN PARKINSONʼS DISEASE I. An Investigation into the Relationship of Certain Disease Factors to Psychological Functions

Abstract

In summary, from a pool of 220 consecutive parkinsonian patients the 50 highest and the 50 lowest in age, duration of illness, autonomic nervous system impairment, muscular rigidity, and voluntary movement impairment were compared on a number of psychological functions. Duration of illness failed to differentiate the high and low groups on any pertinent test variable, while age was related to deficits normally incident to the aging process. The symptom categories, on the other hand, demonstrated consistent intellectual, cognitive, and perceptual losses, and evidenced significantly diminished personality resources. Voluntary movement impairment, the most direct measure of overall parkinsonian incapacitation, was relation to the most reliably pervasive psychological effects. An explanatory hypothesis was suggested.