[Abstract Title]. - Society for Neuroscience

Disclosures: A.A. Butler , None; J.L. Taylor, None; S.R. Lord, None; R.C. Fitzpatrick,
None.
Poster
289. Human Decision Making
Time: Sunday, November 16, 2008, 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Program#/Poster#: 289.11/RR47
Topic: F.01.g. Decision making and reasoning
Title: Reward processes in medicated and never medicated patients with Parkinson‟s disease
Authors: *A. A. MOUSTAFA 1 , S. KERI 4 , C. MYERS 2 , M. GLUCK 3 ;
2 Psychology, 3 Neurosci., 1 Rutgers, Newark, NJ; 4 Dept. of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy,,
Semmelweis University,, Budapest,, Hungary
Abstract: Here we are studying the effects of Parkinson‟s disease (PD) and anti-PD medications
on a cognitive task in which subjects learn either from reward or punishment. The study has
three groups: never-medicated patients, medicated patients, and healthy controls. The results
show that never-medicated PD patients show impairment at learning from reward, in agreement
with existing literature. Medicated patients however did not show any impairment on the task. In
addition, all subjects were administered the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ)
which tests different personality traits including novelty seeking and harm avoidance among
others. We found a medication effect on the novelty seeking segment of the TPQ: Novelty
seeking was lower in unmedicated than in medicated patients (and also controls). This confirms
earlier results regarding the dopaminergic basis of novelty seeking. We discuss the results in
light of recent computational models of basal ganglia function and also of how dopamine
medications (agonists or precursors) might affect cognitive processes in Parkinson‟s disease.
Disclosures: A.A. Moustafa , None; S. Keri, None; C. Myers, None; M. Gluck, None.
Poster
289. Human Decision Making
Time: Sunday, November 16, 2008, 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm