Disease-associated differences in religious cognition in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Objective: We sought to establish whether patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) exhibit change in religiosity as a function of disease progression and asymmetry, medication regimens, mood dysfunction, sex, and age. Method: We assessed both controlled (conscious reflection) and automatic (semantic priming) modes of religiosity. In the main study, self-reported religiosity, cognitive, and clinical measures were assessed in 71 patients with midstage PD and 75 age-matched controls with non-neurological chronic health conditions. To understand a potential mechanism associated with change in religiosity in PD patients, we supplemented the findings with pilot investigations. The pilot included 21 PD patients and utilized a different self-report measure than that of the main study and assessed automatic activation of religious concepts both on and off levodopa. Results: The main study results demonstrated that PD patients consistently scored lower in five of six dimensions of religiosity. Multivariate linear reg...