Executive Functioning in Individuals with Parkinson Disease and Normal Adults

Abstract

This study compares the different levels of executive functioning in patients with Parkinson disease (PD), versus neurologically normal older and younger individuals.Executive functioning skills include memory, perception, planning, reasoning, and dual tasking. The executive functioning skills will be assessed by using the Multiple Errands Test (MET), preceded by 5 neurological deficit clinic/lab-based cognitive tests. The test requires participants to gather a number of items from a grocery store in an allotted amount of time. This test will analyze the cognition, perception, memory, and dual tasking abilities in the participants. The comparison of the clinic/lab-based cognitive tests scores and the MET scores will allow researchers to see the negative affects that Parkinson Disease has on the brain.