Dopaminergic Mechanism of Memory Impairment in Parkinson's Disease

Overview

The cognitive impairment of Parkinson's disease is non amnestic, which is characterized by working memory impairment and executive dysfunction. The current drug therapy (such as levodopa, dopamine receptor agonists) and surgical treatment (such as deep brain electrical stimulation, thalamic lesion) not only can not effectively alleviate cognitive impairment, but also may aggravate cognitive and speech behavior abnormalities. This project will explore how dopamine regulates temporal working memory in human research by combining drug intervention, neuroimaging and cognitive tasks.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease in the elderly. The incidence rate of China's disease is 1.7% in the population over 65 years old. The latest research shows that Parkinson's disease is not a simple motor disorder, but a multi organ dysfunction disorder with both motor symptoms and non motor symptoms. With the development of the disease, more than 80% of the PD patients will develop dementia. Different from the amnestic cognitive impairment of Alzheimer's disease, the cognitive impairment of Parkinson's disease is non amnestic, characterized by working memory impairment and executive dysfunction. The current mainstream drug therapy (such as levodopa, dopamine receptor agonists) and surgical treatment (such as deep brain electrical stimulation, thalamic lesion) can not effectively alleviate cognitive impairment, and may even aggravate cognitive and speech behavior abnormalities, We should first understand the neurochemical (molecular) mechanisms of working memory impairment and executive dysfunction in Parkinson's disease. A prospective single blind randomized controlled design was used. Newly diagnosed PD patients were randomly assigned to three treatment groups: Madopar monotherapy group (n = 50), senfrol monotherapy group (n = 50) and placebo group (n = 50). Objective to study the performance of temporal working memory in PD patients and reveal the dopaminergic mechanism of temporal working memory.