Impulse control disorders (ICD) in Parkinson’s disease (PD) frequently occur, not always as a direct consequence of dopaminergic medication. This study investigated premorbid personality traits and behavioural characteristics in non-demented PD patients with self-reported symptoms of ICD (PD-srICD). From a total of 200 non-demented PD patients who filled out questionnaires assessing symptoms and severity of ICD, those were classified as PD-srICD (n = 32) who reported current occurrence of at least one compulsive behaviour (gambling, sexual behaviour, buying behaviour, or eating). As a control group, 32 patients with no self-reported ICD symptoms were matched for levodopa equivalent daily dose. The demographic, clinical, and premorbid personality profiles were compared between both groups. Frequency of psychological characteristics indicating substance use disorder was evaluated in patients with PD-srICD. Patients with PD-srICD were more frequently male, younger at examination, had earlier PD onset, more depression, higher non-motor burden, less quality of life (p < 0.05, respectively), and more frequently reported premorbid sensation seeking/novelty orientation (p = 0.03) and joyful experience of stress (p = 0.04) than patients in the control group. Of patients with PD-srICD, 90.6% reported at least one behavioural characteristic of substance use disorder, most frequently positive expectations following ICD behaviour and illusional beliefs about its behavioural control. Signs of addiction were common among patients with PD-srICD. Therefore, the profile of psychological characteristics in patients with PD-srICD resembled that of patients with substance use disorder. It can be concluded that dopamine replacement therapy (DRT) alone does not account for PD-srICD and that thorough psychological diagnostics are recommended.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) based applications are an ever-expanding field, with an increasing number of sectors deploying this technology. While previous research has focused on trust in AI applications or familiarity as predictors for AI usage, we aim to expand current research by investigating the influence of knowledge as well as AI risk and opportunity perception as possible predictors for AI usage. To this end, we conducted a study (N= 450, representative for age and gender) covering a broad number of domains (health, eldercare, driving, data processing, and art), assessing well-established variables in AI research (trust, familiarity) as well as knowledge about AI and risk and opportunity assessment. We further investigated the influence of AI use related ratings on AI usage. Results show that the newly investigated variables best predict overall intention to use, above and beyond trust and familiarity. Higher AI-related knowledge, more positive use related ratings, and lower risk perception significantly predict general AI use intention, with a similar trend emerging for domain-specific AI use intention. These findings highlight the relevance of knowledge, risk and opportunity assessment, and use related ratings, in understanding laypeople’s intention to use AI-based applications and open a new roster of research questions in understanding people’s AI use behavior intentions and their perception of AI.

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Ideomotor apraxia, a disorder of skilled movements affecting limbs and/or face, can be seen in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), yet tests of apraxia in PD are rare. The aim of this project was to evaluate the psychometric properties and validity of the Dementia Apraxia Test (DATE) in a PD sample. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> 118 PD patients were included. Besides DATE performance, motor and non-motor burden, cognition, and activity of daily living (ADL) function were assessed. Patients were classified as cognitively impaired (<i>n</i> = 41) or non-cognitively impaired (<i>n</i> = 77). <b><i>Results:</i></b> Interrater reliability of the DATE (sub-)scores between video ratings and on-site ratings by the investigator was good (0.81 ≤ <i>r</i>_<i>k</i> ≤ 0.87). Items were mostly easy to perform, especially the buccofacial apraxia items, which had also low discriminatory power. DATE scores were associated with cognition and ADL function. DATE performance was confounded by motor impairment and patients’ age; however, when analysed for both cognitive groups separately, the correlation between DATE and motor performance was not significant. <b><i>Discussion/Conclusion:</i></b> The DATE seems to be an objective and predominantly valid apraxia screening tool for PD patients, with a few items needing revision. Due to the potential effect of motor impairment and age, standardized scores adjusting for these confounders are needed.