Retrograde Procedural Memory in Parkinson’s Disease: A Cross-Sectional, Case-Control Study

Abstract

Background: The analysis of the procedural memory is particularly relevant in neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson’s disease, due to the central role of the basal ganglia in procedural memory. It has been shown that anterograde procedural memory, the ability to learn a new skill, is impaired in Parkinson’s disease. However, retrograde procedural memory, the long-term retention and execution of skills learned in earlier life stages, has not yet been systematically investigated in Parkinson’s disease. Objective: This study aims to investigate retrograde procedural memory in people with Parkinson’s disease. We hypothesized that retrograde procedural memory is impaired in people with Parkinson’s disease compared to an age- and gender-matched control group. Methods: First, we developed an extended evaluation system based on the Cube Copying Test, the CUPRO evaluation system, to distinguish the cube copying procedure, representing functioning of retrograde procedural memory, and the final result, representing the visuo-constructive abilities. Development of the evaluation system included tests of discriminant validity. Results: Comparing people with typical Parkinson’s disease (n = 201) with age- and gender-matched control subjects (n = 201), we identified cube copying performance to be significantly impaired in people with Parkinson’s disease (p = 0.008). No significant correlation was observed between retrograde procedural memory and disease duration. Conclusion: We demonstrated lower cube copying performance in people with Parkinson’s disease compared to control subjects, which suggests an impaired functioning of retrograde procedural memory in Parkinson’s disease.

Cognition and Other Non-Motor Symptoms in an At-Risk Cohort for Parkinson’s Disease Defined by REM-Sleep Behavior Disorder and Hyposmia

“…Memory impairments have been observed in patients who converted to PD within 2 years but not in the earlier prodromal stages [35]. Based on the results in Set 2, by applying the CUPRO evaluation system [22], we confirmed that the significant difficulties observed in the Cube Copying Task (initial scoring on 1 point [24]) are due to visuoconstructive deficits and not to a deficit of retrograde procedural memory. To our knowledge, the current study is the first to systematically evaluate retrograde procedural memory in P-PD.…”

“…To our knowledge, the current study is the first to systematically evaluate retrograde procedural memory in P-PD. Given that, in our previous work on retrograde procedural memory in already diagnosed PD, we did not see any significant correlation between this memory concept and disease duration [ 22 ], we assumed that retrograde procedural memory might be already impaired in the prodromal stages of PD.…”

“…For the second set of analyses (Set 2) (Flowchart, SupplementaryFigure 1 C), we compared cognitive performances measured by the CUPRO evaluation system [ 22 ]. The size of the P-PD and matched control sample differ slightly between sets, since CUPRO was more recently added to the neuropsychological assessment.…”

“…For the second set of analyses, we applied the CUPRO, (short for CUbe drawing PROcedure) evaluation system to assess the cube copying procedure (Intermediate Score 1 –CUPRO-IS1), representing retrograde procedural memory and the final result of the cube (Intermediate Score 2- CUPRO-IS2), representing visuo-constructive functions [ 22 ]. Furthermore, MoCA [ 24 ] and Trail-Making-Test [ 25 ] were also assessed in this set of analyses.…”

Effects of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation on components of functional physical activity in patients with Parkinson’s disease

“…Attention and working memory impairment are also common in PD and are characterized by difficulties in sustaining attention, focusing, and filtering out distractions. Patients with attention and working memory impairment may have difficulty remembering and processing new information and may experience frequent lapses in concentration [9] . Visuospatial impairment is characterized by difficulties in processing and interpreting visual information.…”