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A-089 The Role of Anxiety Severity and Neurocognitive Functions in Parkinson’s Disease


 
 
 Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor and nonmotor symptoms. While much of the extant literature on neuropsychiatric symptoms and cognitive deficits have focused on depression, comparatively less have examined the role of anxiety among patients with PD. Here, we examined levels of anxiety severity (i.e., minimal, mild, moderate–severe) and cognition in this population.
 
 
 
 Fifty-six PD patients (M age = 60.8 ± 9.3; 69.6% male) being considered for surgical intervention were evaluated at an outpatient clinic. Inclusion criteria included no history of neurosurgical procedure and no other diagnosis of a neurodegenerative disorder. Participants completed a battery of neuropsychological tests and reported mood symptoms (Geriatric Depression Scale-15, Beck Anxiety Inventory). Those who scored above clinical cutoffs for depressive symptoms were excluded due to high comorbidity with anxiety. Motor symptom severity was rated by neurologists using the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale.
 
 
 
 Analysis of covariance revealed significant group differences on tests of working memory (p = .03), set-shifting (p = .04), problem-solving (p = .05), and phonemic fluency (p = .03) when controlling for motor symptom severity. PD patients with moderate–severe levels of anxiety performed significantly lower than those with minimal or mild anxiety (p’s < .05). There were no other significant group differences in neuropsychological test performance.
 
 
 
 These findings suggest measurable differences in neurocognitive functions associated with frontostriatal circuits among PD patients with varying levels of overall anxiety. Future work should consider the potential overlap between anxiety and PD symptoms as they relate to cognition.
