Relating Global Cognition With Upper-Extremity Motor Skill Retention in Individuals With Mild-to-Moderate Parkinson's Disease.
Jennapher Lingo VanGilder, Cielita Lopez-Lennon, Serene S Paul and 3 others
PMID 36188810WHAT IT FOUND
Higher scores on a five-minute cognitive screen predicted better retention of an upper-extremity motor task nine days later in people with mild-to-moderate Parkinson's disease.
This held true regardless of whether they took their dopamine medication during training.
Key findings
01MoCA score predicted 9-day follow-up performance, with higher scores associated with faster trial times.
02Age, PD motor severity, depression scores, and medication status did not significantly predict follow-up motor performance.
03Participants demonstrated an overall effect of motor learning, with 9-day follow-up performance significantly faster than baseline.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study had a small sample size (23 participants). MoCA scores had a limited range, with most participants scoring in the normal cognitive range, so it is unclear how these findings apply to those with more significant cognitive impairment. The analysis only looked at 9-day retention, not long-term clinical outcomes or generalization to daily life activities. Participants in the 'off' medication group resumed their medication after daily training, so the effect of continuous medication status on consolidation could not be fully separated.
Declared interests
The authors declared no commercial or financial conflicts of interest. Funding was provided by the National Institute on Aging, the University of Utah Office of Research, and the American Parkinson's Disease Association.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume the MoCA diagnoses dementia or predicts long-term functional independence. It is a screening tool that, in this study, only predicted short-term (9-day) retention of a specific motor task in a small group of mostly cognitively intact individuals.