Pergolide therapy for Parkinson's disease: neurobehavioral changes.

Pergolide mesylate, a long-acting dopamine agonist, is effective in treating Parkinson's disease. Behavioral change is said to be one adverse effect. We therefore studied 19 parkinsonian patients with neuropsychological tests before and after initiating pergolide therapy. Intellectual and behavioral changes were also monitored clinically for up to 2 years. There was no decline in performance on the neuropsychological tests. Six patients had transient psychiatric or intellectual changes that were controlled by reducing drug dosage. These changes were similar to those seen with other dopamine agonists.