Brain Advance Access originally published online on May 4, 2009
Brain 2009 132(9):2385-2395; doi:10.1093/brain/awp094
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Reward-learning and the novelty-seeking personality: a between- and within-subjects study of the effects of dopamine agonists on young Parkinson's patients*
1 Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary 2 Department of Neurology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary 3 Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA 4 Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA 5 Department of Psychology, Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, USA 6 Albert Szent-Györgyi Clinical Center, Neurology Outpatient Unit, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
Correspondence to: Dr Szabolcs Kéri, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Semmelweis University, Balassa u. 6., Budapest H1083, Hungary E-mail: keriszabolcs{at}psych.sote.hu
Parkinson's disease is characterized by the degeneration of dopaminergic pathways projecting to the striatum. These pathways are implicated in reward prediction. In this study, we investigated reward and punishment processing in young, never-medicated Parkinson's disease patients, recently medicated patients receiving the dopamine receptor agonists pramipexole and ropinirole and healthy controls. The never-medicated patients were also re-evaluated after 12 weeks of treatment with dopamine agonists. Reward and punishment processing was assessed by a feedback-based probabilistic classification task. Personality characteristics were measured by the temperament and character inventory. Results revealed that never-medicated patients with Parkinson's disease showed selective deficits on reward processing and novelty seeking, which were remediated by dopamine agonists. These medications disrupted punishment processing. In addition, dopamine agonists increased the correlation between reward processing and novelty seeking, whereas these drugs decreased the correlation between punishment processing and harm avoidance. Our finding that dopamine agonist administration in young patients with Parkinson's disease resulted in increased novelty seeking, enhanced reward processing, and decreased punishment processing may shed light on the cognitive and personality bases of the impulse control disorders, which arise as side-effects of dopamine agonist therapy in some Parkinson's disease patients.
Key Words: Parkinson's disease; reward; novelty seeking; dopamine; pramipexole; ropinirole
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Received December 15, 2008. Revised February 25, 2009. Accepted March 9, 2009.
*This article is dedicated to the memory of Marvin Blume, who passed away in 2008, following a long battle with Parkinson's disease.
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