Frequency of Cholinergic and Caudate Nucleus Dopaminergic Deficits Across the Predemented Cognitive Spectrum of Parkinson Disease and Evidence of Interaction Effects

Abstract

Cortical cholinergic denervation is a major neurodegeneration associated with progressive declines across the spectrum of cognitive impairment in PD and typically occurs in the context of significant caudate nucleus dopaminergic denervation. Our findings imply that dopaminergic and cholinergic degenerations exhibit both independent and interactive contributions to cognitive impairment in PD.