Cognition and driving ability in isolated and symptomatic REM sleep behavior disorder

Abstract

Study Objectives: To analyze cognitive deficits leading to unsafe driving in patients with REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD), strongly associated with cognitive impairment and synucleinopathy-related neurodegeneration. Methods: Twenty isolated RBD (iRBD), 10 symptomatic RBD (sRBD), and 20 age- and education-matched controls participated in a prospective case-control driving simulation study. Group mean differences were compared with correlations between cognitive and driving safety measures. Results: iRBD and sRBD patients were more cognitively impaired than controls in global neurocognitive functioning, processing speeds, visuospatial attention, and distractibility (p