Galantamine Executive Function in Parkinson's Disease

Investigator Initiated Study: Galantamine CR Potential Enhancement of Attentional and Executive Function in Non-Demented Patients With Parkinson's Disease

The aim of the study is to determine whether galantamine stabilizes or improves thinking abilities in individuals with Parkinson's disease. Individuals included in the study have minor complaints about thinking such as problems with concentration or memory but do not have dementia. This medication has been shown to have a positive effect on stabilizing memory in individuals with Alzheimer's disease. It is FDA approved for use in elderly individuals with Alzheimer's disease. It is hypothesized that galantamine will stabilize or improve executive and attentional functions in individuals with Parkinson's.

While several cholinesterase inhibitors have effectiveness in Alzheimer's disease (AD), galantamine is unique since it has a dual mode of action: inhibition of acetylcholinesterase and modulation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.As Parkinson's disease (PD) impacts frontal systems, executive cognition rather than memory function (mediated by medial temporal) would be the targeted area for potential improvement. This single center, double blind, placebo controlled study compares a group of PD patients treated with galantamine to a group of PD patients who are not treated with this medication on a series of cognitive tasks that examine attention and executive control.

Inclusion Criteria: Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease Exclusion Criteria: dementia, depression, cardiac disease, gastrointestinal disease

Buelow MT, Amick MM, Queller S, Stout JC, Friedman JH, Grace J. Feasibility of use of probabilistic reversal learning and serial reaction time tasks in clinical trials of Parkinson's disease. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2015 Aug;21(8):894-8. doi: 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2015.05.019. Epub 2015 May 27.