Temperament and Cognitive Performance in Parkinson's Disease
Author Information
Author(s): Graham Pluck, Richard G. Brown
Primary Institution: The University of Sheffield
Hypothesis
Harm avoidance scores would be correlated with depression and anxiety scores in patients with Parkinson's disease.
Conclusion
The study found that harm avoidance is linked to anxiety rather than depression in Parkinson's disease patients, and novelty seeking is associated with cognitive task performance.
Supporting Evidence
- Novelty seeking scores were significantly correlated with attentional performance.
- Harm avoidance scores were significantly correlated with anxiety scores.
- 15.0
- Only 15% of the PD patients scored in the range of probable clinical depression.
Takeaway
People with Parkinson's disease may feel more anxious if they tend to avoid harm, and how they react to new things can affect how well they pay attention.
Methodology
The study used the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire and a custom attentional task to assess the relationship between temperament and cognitive performance in Parkinson's disease patients.
Potential Biases
Potential bias due to the self-reported nature of personality assessments.
Limitations
The small sample size limits the generalizability of the findings.
Participant Demographics
20 Parkinson's disease patients, mean age 68.5 years, 11 females.
Statistical Information
P-Value
p<0.05
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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