Computer assisted cognitive rehabilitation improves visuospatial and executive functions in Parkinson's disease: Preliminary results

BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease due to dopamine deficiency in the basal ganglia, leading to motor symptoms such as bradykinesia, tremor, stiffness, and postural instability. This disease may also be associated with a broad spectrum of non-motor symptoms. More than 24% of patients with PD have one or more cognitive symptoms. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of computer-assisted cognitive rehabilitation (CACR) in Parkinson's disease (PD). METHODS: Sixty patients with PD were enrolled in this study and were randomly divided into control group (CG) and experimental group (EG). Each participant was evaluated at the beginning (T0) and at the end of training (T1). The CG underwent standard cognitive training (SCT) while EG performed CACR using the ERICA platform, aimed at improving several cognitive domains. In both the group, each training consisted of 3 sessions a week, each of these lasting sixty minutes, for eight weeks. RESULTS: Although both the groups had significant improvement after CR, we observed more significant changes in the EG, especially concerning attention, orientation and visual-spatial domains. CONCLUSIONS: Our data demonstrate that CACR is more effective than SCT in improving visual-spatial and executive deficits, in patients affected by PD.