ABSTRACT
Although Parkinson’s disease (PD) is traditionally thought of primarily as a motor disorder, cognitive dysfunction and frank dementia do occur in many patients. In fact, patients, families, and physicians alike have found that dementia occurring in PD can be the most frustrating and disabling consequence of the disease. Despite the dramatic advances that have been made in the treatment of motor symptoms in recent decades, PD patients who develop dementia still have a significantly worse prognosis than their nondemented counterparts and all too often lose the ability to live independently. Dementia is probably the greatest unmet need from a therapeutic standpoint in PD. In this chapter, we review the epidemiology, clinical features, neurochemical, neuroimaging, and pathological aspects of dementia in PD. We also review recent literature on the treatment of dementia and outline a practical approach to the management of this important complication of PD.
