Sozinova, Elena V.

In our study we compared structures of changes in quality of life in caregivers of patients with Parkinson’s disease at the early and advanced stages. The perception of patients by their relatives is revealed through a content analysis of their descriptions of patients. We found out 2 factors that influence the caregiver’s adaptation: 1) severity of patient’s motor and cognitive disturbances, and 2) caregiver’s psychological problems (bad mood, difficulties in family communication and interaction).

Complex interdisciplinary study of mechanisms of readiness for speech and move4 ments in stuttering used neuropsychological (A.R. Luria battery), biomechanical (a study of nonverbal movements such as the gait) and psychophysiological (brain localization of potential of readiness for speech) methods. Connection between defects of the sequential organization of speech, gait and performance in neuropsy4 chological tests on reciprocal coordination and dynamic praxis was revealed. Defects of readiness for speech are connected with pathological excitation of limbic system and pathological deactivation of brainstem, left frontal cortex, left basal nuclei and right temporal cortex, as well as with additional activation of the right frontal cortex. These data prove the systemic nature of speech defects in stuttering and the unity of brain mechanisms of verbal and motor readiness in human mental functioning.