Marras, ConnieDuff Canning, Sarah J
University Health Network (Toronto)
Canada
Predicting outcome in Parkinson's disease cognitive impairment
CIHR
379,739
01/04/2013
4
Impairment in thinking and memory frequently accompanies Parkinson’s disease (PD) and becomes more severe as the disease progresses. The impairment can be mild, not interfering significantly with social or occupational functioning (PD-Mild Cognitive Impairment) or can be more severe – PD-dementia. Little is known about the frequency of worsening to dementia, what determines whether or not mild cognitive impairment worsens to dementia or if we can predict when and if this will occur. In a group of 139 patients with PD without dementia at baseline we propose to follow them for the development of dementia and to identify clinical, demographic and genetic factors that are associated with worsening cognitive abilities and progression to dementia.