Social cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is thought to be primarily a disorder of the motor system due to dysfunction of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system. However, recent studies have revealed that social cognition tasks, such as mind-reading, facial expression recognition, and decision-making, are also impaired in PD. The studies also demonstrated that these impairments can occur due to dysfunctions of the mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic system, particularly in the amygdala. The social cognitive impairments may develop in the early stage of PD.