Objective: To investigate the relation between orthostatic hypotension (OH) and posturemediated cognitive impairment in Parkinson disease (PD) using a cross-sectional and withingroup design.Methods: Individuals without dementia with idiopathic PD included 18 with OH (PDOH) and 19 without OH; 18 control participants were also included. Neuropsychological tests were conducted in supine and upright-tilted positions. Blood pressure was assessed in each posture.
Results:The PD groups performed similarly while supine, demonstrating executive dysfunction in sustained attention and response inhibition, and reduced semantic fluency and verbal memory (encoding and retention). Upright posture exacerbated and broadened these deficits in the PDOH group to include phonemic fluency, psychomotor speed, and auditory working memory. When group-specific supine scores were used as baseline anchors, both PD groups showed cognitive changes following tilt, with the PDOH group exhibiting a wider range of deficits in executive function and memory as well as significant changes in visuospatial function.
Conclusions:Cognitive deficits in PD have been widely reported with assessments performed in the supine position, as seen in both our PD groups. Here we demonstrated that those with PDOH had transient, posture-mediated changes in excess of those found in PD without OH. These observed changes suggest an acute, reversible effect. Understanding the effects of OH due to autonomic failure on cognition is desirable, particularly as neuroimaging and clinical assessments collect data only in the supine or seated positions. Identification of a distinct neuropsychological profile in PD with OH has quality of life implications, and OH presents itself as a possible target for intervention in cognitive disturbance. Orthostatic hypotension (OH) is among the most commonly reported nonmotor manifestations in persons with Parkinson disease (PD), with prevalence as high as 53%.1 Symptoms include lightheadedness, fatigue, neck pain, presyncope, and syncope.2,3 The causes can include both CNS and peripheral nervous system degeneration.4 Dopamine replacement therapies have been implicated as well.
5OH is associated with cognitive impairment. Even when controlling for systolic blood pressure (SBP), both elderly and younger individuals with OH show relative deficits in verbal memory and sustained attention, both of which are predictors of subsequent cognitive decline that is greater than would be expected in the context of normal aging.
6Idiopathic PD is itself associated with cognitive deficits. Historically, these were thought to be limited to psychomotor/information processing speeds and caused by disease-specific subcortical pathologies.7 However, deficits across executive functions are present, even in cases without