Emotional Dysfunction in Parkinson’s Disease

In addition to motor symptomatology, idiopathic Parkinson's disease is characterized by emotional dysfunction. Depression affects some 30 to 40 percent of Parkinson patients and other psychiatric co-morbidities include anxiety and apathy. Neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies of emotional dysfunction in Parkinson patients suggest abnormalities involving mesolimbic and mesocortical dopaminergic pathways. There is also evidence suggesting that the interaction between serotonin and dopamine systems is important in the understanding and treatment of mood disorders in Parkinson's disease. In this review we discuss the neuropsychiatric abnormalities that accompany Parkinson's disease and describe their neuropsychological, neuropharmacologic, and neuroimaging concomitants.