A Multisensory Deficit in the Perception of Pleasantness in Parkinson's Disease
Utz K, Martini M, Mrochen A, Lambrecht V, Süß P, Renner B, Freiherr J, Schenk T, Winkler J, Marxreiter F (2021)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2021
Journal
Book Volume: 11
Pages Range: 2035-2045
Journal Issue: 4
DOI: 10.3233/jpd-212812
Abstract
Background: There is growing interest in non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD), due to the impact on quality of life. Anhedonia, the inability to experience joy and lust, has a prevalence of up to 46% in PD. The perception of pleasantness of an odor is reduced in anhedonia without PD. We previously showed a reduced hedonic olfactory perception in PD, i.e., patients evaluated odors as less pleasant or unpleasant compared to controls. This deficit correlated with anhedonia. Objective: We aimed to confirm these findings. Moreover, we hypothesized that the perception of pleasantness in PD is affected on a multisensory level and correlates with anhedonia. Therefore, we assessed olfactory, visual and acoustic evaluation of pleasantness in PD and healthy individuals. Methods: Participants had to rate the pleasantness of 22 odors, pictures, and sounds on a nine-point Likert scale. Depression, anhedonia, and apathy were assessed by means of questionnaires. Results of the pleasantness-rating were compared between groups and correlated to scores of the questionnaires. Results: In particular pleasant and unpleasant stimuli across all three modalities are perceived less intense in PD, suggesting that a reduced range of perception of pleasantness is a multisensory phenomenon. However, only a reduction of visual hedonic perception correlated with anhedonia in PD. A correlation of reduced perception of pleasantness with apathy or depression was not present. Conclusion: We provide evidence for a multisensory deficit in the perception of pleasantness. Further studies should delineate the underlying neural circuity and the diagnostic value to detect neuropsychiatric symptoms in PD.
Authors with CRIS profile
Kathrin Utz
Department of Neurology
Max Martini
Professur für Molekulare Neurologie
Anne Mrochen
Department of Neurology
Vera Lambrecht
Department of Neurology
Patrick Süß
Department of Molecular Neurology
Bertold Renner
Lehrstuhl für Pharmakologie und Toxikologie
Jessica Freiherr
Professur für Neurowissenschaften der sensorischen Wahrnehmung (Stiftungsprofessur)
Jürgen Winkler
Professur für Molekulare Neurologie
Franz Marxreiter
Department of Molecular Neurology
Involved external institutions
Germany (DE)How to cite
APA:
Utz, K., Martini, M., Mrochen, A., Lambrecht, V., Süß, P., Renner, B.,... Marxreiter, F. (2021). A Multisensory Deficit in the Perception of Pleasantness in Parkinson's Disease. Journal of Parkinson's Disease, 11(4), 2035-2045. https://dx.doi.org/10.3233/jpd-212812
MLA:
Utz, Kathrin, et al. "A Multisensory Deficit in the Perception of Pleasantness in Parkinson's Disease." Journal of Parkinson's Disease 11.4 (2021): 2035-2045.
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