The relationship between visuospatial disorders in Parkinson’s disease and thickness of retina and cortex

Abstract

This paper presents the current data on the mechanisms of formationof visuospatial disorders in Parkinsons disease (PD). Opticalcoherence tomography method was used to study the retina,using the protocols designed to assess the thickness of ganglioniclayer, retinal nerve fiber layer, and macular map. Central structureswere assessed using MRI of the brain followed by evaluationof the cortical thickness. Patients underwent neuropsychologicaltests, including tests designed to assess the severity of the disease,visuospatial perception, and cognitive functions. The results revealedthe retinal and prestriate areas with the most significantchanges in patients with different stages of PD, and allowed usto hypothesize the role of changes in the peripheral and centralstructures of the visual analyzer in formation of symptom complexof visuospatial disorders in PD.

Keywords

• parkinson's disease
• visuospatial disorders
• cognitive deficit, optical coherence tomography
• mri morphometry