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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Can there be learning potential in Parkinson’s disease? A comparison with healthy older adults

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Patients with Parkinson's disease may show certain cognitive impairments, although it is unclear how these deficits can affect their learning potential. The study aims to use the testing-the-limits technique to compare the potential for cognitive plasticity in a group of Patients with Parkinson's disease (N = 33) and a group of healthy older adults (N = 33). Sixty-six participants performed verbal learning test to analyze the learning potential. Repeated-measures analysis of variance showed significant main effects of time, group, and the interaction. There is a lower learning potential in subjects with Parkinson's disease; however, those still maintain a certain capacity for learning and, therefore, for cognitive plasticity.