Nervous System Diseases Commons^™

Attentional Processing In Parkinson's Disease: Hyperkinetic And Akinetic Type, Christine Diane Kraus

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Parkinson's disease (P.D.) has long been thought of as a single disorder. Recent research involving neurochemistry, neurophysiology, and detailed analysis of symptoms, have created a basis for questioning the concept that P.D. is a singular disorder. Literature suggests there may be two primary subtypes (with the possibility of others). The two probable subtypes are hyperkinetic, in which tremor is the predominate symptom and akinetic, in which, gait freezing and postural instability predominate.

In both of these pathological manifestations, several investigators have noted cognitive deficits including attention. The differences in symptomotology and neuropathology attributed to these probable subtypes suggest that there …