Centre for Policy on Ageing



Extrapyramidal signs in cognitively intact elderly people
Author(s)	Richard Prettyman
Journal title	Age and Ageing, vol 27, no 5, September 1998
Pages	pp 557-560
Keywords	Parkinson's disease ; Nervous system diseases ; Mental ageing ; Evaluation ; Nottingham.
Annotation	The relationship between ageing and the presentation of signs of extrapyramidal dysfunction (e.g. impaired finger tapping, flexed posture, slow or shuffling gait) was investigated. 151 non-demented subjects aged 65 and over, and living in the community in Nottingham, had aspects of their neurological function assessed (using items from the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale) as participants in the Medical Research Council multicentre Cognitive Function and Ageing Study (MRC CFAS). Bradykinetic and hypokinetic abnormalities are a frequent finding, especially in the oldest old; and over 50% of subjects aged 80 or over demonstrated at least one such sign. Only 10% of subjects had any recorded neurological disease. The frequency of recognised neurological and other disease is insufficient to account for the rate of subtle extrapyramidal abnormalities found. These finding may thus represent intrinsic age-related changes in neurological functioning, this being consistent with previously described pathological changes in normal ageing. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-981119001 A
Classmark	CR6: CR: D6: 4C: 8NTF
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.