Study of the Distractibility Syndrome in Patients With Progressive Supranuclear Palsy

The syndrome of distractibility is a behavioral disorder induced by a lesion or a dysfunction of the frontal lobe. This sign is frequent in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a neurodegenerative disorder with severe neuronal loss in the prefrontal cortex and cholinergic systems, in particular in the Meynert basalis nucleus. This could participate in the occurrence of the distractibility in these patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of the donepezil, an anticholinesterase, on the distractibility in PSP patients, by using oculomotor and neuropsychological assessments.