Neuropsychological Aspects of Fetal Transplant Surgery for the Treatment of Parkinson's Disease: A Longitudinal Study

<p>Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease often characterized at the time of diagnosis by resting tremor, rigidity, and/or bradykinesia. Over the course of the disease, motor functioning, cognitive functioning, and quality of life typically decline as the effectiveness of drug therapies diminishes. This study utilized medical, neuropsychological and quality of life data that were collected as part of a double-blind placebo surgery trial in which 40 patients were randomly assigned to receive bilateral transplantation of embryonic mesencephalic dopamine cells into the putamen or sham surgery. Nineteen women and 21 men participated in the study. Analyses focused on relationships between neuropsychological, motor, and quality of life data at baseline, 12, and 24 months post-surgery. Other analyses investigated differences between older (61+) and younger (≤ 60) patients in regard to neuropsychological functioning, as well as neuropsychological differences between those who <em>thought</em> they received the transplant and those who <em>thought</em> they received sham surgery at 12 months.</p> <p>Results of this study indicated that a measure of verbal fluency and two measures of visual memory correlated most consistently with measures of motor functioning and quality of life. Depression was related to lower scores on neuropsychological assessments at 12 months and perceived support was related to higher neuropsychological scores at 24 months. Other results indicated that younger participants obtained higher scores on measures of verbal fluency and verbal memory than older participants. Finally, there were no differences between those who <em>thought</em> they received the transplant and those who <em>thought</em> they received the sham surgery before the double-blind was lifted at 12 months in regard to neuropsychological performance. Thus, the placebo effect, which was apparent in previous medical and quality of life analyses using these data, did not extend to neuropsychological test performance.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Year dc:date.available

2010

Author dc:creator

• Signoracci, Gina M.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Cynthia McRae, Ph.D.
• Mohammad Matin
• Kathy Green
• Barbara Vollmer

• Fetal cell transplant
• Parkinson's Disease
• Surgery trial
• Psychology
• Social and Behavioral Sciences

Statement dc:rights

• <p>Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.</p>

Language dc:language

en

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/275

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.du.edu:etd-1274