A common cognitive profile in elderly fallers and in patients with Parkinson's disease: The prominence of impaired executive function and attention

Jeffrey M. Hausdorff*, Glen M. Doniger, Shmuel Springer, Galit Yogev, Nir Giladi, Ely S. Simon

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

154 Scopus citations

Abstract

The present study examined the cognitive profile of elderly fallers relative to healthy elderly controls and patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), a positive-control group, using a computerized battery. Fallers performed more poorly than controls on executive function, attention, and motor skills, but performed comparably on memory, information processing and the Mini-Mental State Examination. A similar profile was evident for PD patients. However, unlike PD patients, fallers were abnormally inconsistent in their reaction times. These findings indicate that elderly fallers may have a unique cognitive processing deficit (i.e., variability of response timing) and underscore the importance of executive function and attention as potential targets for fall risk screening and interventions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)411-429
Number of pages19
JournalExperimental Aging Research
Volume32
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Dec 2006

Funding

FundersFunder number
National Institute on AgingR01AG014100
National Center for Research Resources
National Parkinson Foundation
Parkinson's Disease Foundation
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'A common cognitive profile in elderly fallers and in patients with Parkinson's disease: The prominence of impaired executive function and attention'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this