Spatial Neglect And Parkinson Disease (P7.294)

OBJECTIVE: People with Parkinson disease (PD) may have a reduced ability to allocate global spatial attention and an impaired ability to disengage from or inhibit focal attention. Thus, we predicted that the center of mass effect will be increased in people with PD. BACKGROUND: When asked to bisect lines composed of two segments of unequal length, healthy young adults deviate toward the longer segment. This attentional bias, known as the center of mass effect, is thought to reflect the distracting influence of focal attention on the allocation of global spatial attention. DESIGN/METHODS: People with PD and healthy older adults were asked to bisect lines of uniform thickness and lines composed of two segments of unequal thickness and length. RESULTS: Compared to the control group, the center of mass effect was increased in people with PD, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant when the longer segment of the line was to the right of the shorter segment. CONCLUSIONS: The increased center of mass effect in people with PD may be due to an impaired ability to engage global spatial attention and a reduced ability to inhibit or disengage focal attention with a resultant attentional grasp. Study Supported by: This research is supported by grants from the National Parkinson Foundation establishing a center of excellence for care and research and the State of Florida Department of Elder Affairs. The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development provides research funding for Adam D. Falchook (1 IK1 RX000961-01A1), John B. Williamson (B7179-W), and Kenneth M. Heilman (Vertical Neglect). The NIH provides research funding for Nikolaus R. McFarland (NIH K08NS067024) and Aparna Shukla (NIH KL2 TR000065). Ramon Rodriguez has received research support from Abbott, Biotie Therapeutics, Huntington Study Group, Ipsen, Merz Pharmaceuticals, Allergan, National Parkinson Foundation, NIH/NINDS, Teva but has no owner interest in any pharmaceutical company. Disclosure: Dr. Falchook has received personal compensation for activities with the University of Florida College of Medicine, the Institute for Advancement of Human Behavior, and PeerView Institute for Medical Education. Dr. Salazar has nothing to disclose. Dr. Neal has nothing to disclose. Dr. Kesayan has nothing to disclose. Dr. Williamson has nothing to disclose. Dr. Malaty has received personal compensation for activities with Prime-CME as a speaker. Dr. Malaty has received research support from the National Parkinson Foundation, Michael J. Fox Foundation, Tourette Syndrome Association for Parkinson, National Institutes of Health, and Abbott. Dr. McFarland has nothing to disclose. Dr. Okun has received royalty payments from Demos, Humana, Amazon and Cambridge. Dr. Okun has received research support from the Michael J. Fox Foundation, the National Parkinson Foundation, the Parkinson Alliance, the Smallwood Foundation, the Tourette Syndrome Association, the Bachmann-Strauss Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Rodriguez has received personal compensation for activities with Allergan Inc., Merz Pharma, Lundbeck Research USA, Inc., and Teva Neuroscience. Dr. Wagle-Shukla has nothing to disclose. Dr. Heilman has nothing to disclose.