The purpose of this three year grant is to examine the relationship between visual hallucinations and visual system abnormality in Parkinson's disease. Visual hallucinations are common symptoms and frequent causes of morbidity in Parkinson's disease, yet little is known about their etiology. Increasing evidence suggests that hallucinations in Parkinson's disease are not simply a medication effect, but are associated with the underlying disease process. Specificallly, evidence exists that suggest visual hallucinations in Parkinson's disease may be related to known visual system dysfunction in Parkinson's disease. In this study, thirty Parkinson's disease patients with visual hallucinations will be matched to thirty Parkinson's disease patients without visual hallucinations. They will be examined on neuropsychological tests assessing visual cognitive function, and will undergo visual evoked potentials. A subset of these patients (20 matched pairs) will also undergo functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess visual cortex function. It is hypothesized that Parkinson's disease patients with visual hallucinations will have greater evidence of visual system abnormality. Specifically they will demonstrate greater deficits of visual-cognitive function, greater latency on visual evoked potential and differences in activation of visual cortical regions on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) than those without visual hallucinations. It is hypothesized that these results will support a proposed biologic model of VH in PD regarding the role of dopamine abnormality in both the retina and basal ganglia that effect the regulation of function of visual cortex. The results of this study will increase knowledge regarding the neural mechanisms of visual hallucinations in Parkinson's disease and knowledge of visual system abnormality in Parkinson's disease. The results may also increase our understanding of visual hallucinations in other disorders. Conceivably, such knowledge could lead to strategies to prevent, minimize or treat such symptoms.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01NS045008-02
Application #
6773176
Study Section
Brain Disorders and Clinical Neuroscience 5 (BDCN)
Program Officer
Oliver, Eugene J
Project Start
2003-07-15
Project End
2006-06-30
Budget Start
2004-07-01
Budget End
2005-06-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2004
Total Cost
$324,900
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Virginia
Department
Psychiatry
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
065391526
City
Charlottesville
State
VA
Country
United States
Zip Code
22904
Sabeen, Samia; Chou, Caroline; Holroyd, Suzanne (2010) Abnormal thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) in psychiatric long-term care patients. Arch Gerontol Geriatr 51:6-8
Holroyd, Suzanne; Currie, Lillian J; Wooten, G Frederick (2008) Validity, sensitivity and specificity of the mentation, behavior and mood subscale of the UPDRS. Neurol Res 30:493-6
Holroyd, Suzanne; Sabeen, Samia (2008) Successful treatment of hallucinations associated with sensory impairment using gabapentin. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 20:364-6
Light, Stacy Anderson; Holroyd, Suzanne (2006) The use of medroxyprogesterone acetate for the treatment of sexually inappropriate behaviour in patients with dementia. J Psychiatry Neurosci 31:132-4
Helvink, Badalin; Holroyd, Suzanne (2006) Buspirone for stereotypic movements in elderly with cognitive impairment. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 18:242-4
Maritz, Jonathan; Holroyd, Suzanne (2006) Characteristics of telephone calls in a psychiatric outpatient practice. J Psychiatr Pract 12:195-9
Holroyd, Suzanne; Currie, Lillian J; Wooten, G Frederick (2005) Depression is associated with impairment of ADL, not motor function in Parkinson disease. Neurology 64:2134-5
Holroyd, Suzanne (2004) Managing dementia in long-term care settings. Clin Geriatr Med 20:83-92