The following is a summary of “Metacognitive accuracy differences in Parkinson’s Disease and REM Sleep Behavioural Disorder relative to healthy controls,” published in the May 2024 issue of Neurology by Balaet et al.
Despite a known metacognitive decline in neurodegenerative diseases, its evaluation in early-stage Parkinson’s disease (PD) and REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), a potential precursor to PD, remains unexplored.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study investigating metacognitive accuracy and self-confidence in PD and patients with RBD performing various cognitive tasks.
They performed extensive computerized cognitive evaluations, completing 19 tasks within a known cohort of patients with PD and RBD. Own performance was assessed by individual post-tasks. Metacognitive accuracy was determined by contrasting these assessments with objective performance and then examined with clinical and mental health variables.
The results showed that patients with PD and RBD metacognitive accuracy matched control subjects. However, diminished confidence across cognitive domains was displayed, indicating decreased cognitive performance. A significant negative correlation was noted between confidence and MDS-UPDRS I and II scales and HADS anxiety and depression scores.
Investigators found that unlike other neurological conditions, patients with early-to-mid stage PD and RBD retained awareness of the cognitive abilities, with lower confidence linked to depression, anxiety, and daily struggles.
Source: frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2024.1399313/abstract
