Parkinsonism & related disorders
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Parkinsonism Relat. Disord. · Nov 2014
Relationships among cognitive impairment, sleep, and fatigue in Parkinson's disease using the MDS-UPDRS.
Non-motor complications of Parkinson's disease (PD), specifically cognitive impairment, sleep disturbances, and fatigue, are recognized as important contributors to poor patient outcomes and quality of life. How sleep problems and fatigue interrelate and impact cognitive function, however, has not systematically been investigated across the stages of PD. The aim of our study was to investigate the relationships among cognitive impairment, night-time sleep problems, daytime sleepiness, and fatigue across all severities of PD. ⋯ Given this association of daytime sleepiness and fatigue with cognitive impairment, clinical monitoring for these problems should be considered across all points in the PD spectrum, from early to more advanced disease.
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Parkinsonism Relat. Disord. · Nov 2014
A potential target for the treatment of Parkinson's disease: effect of lateral habenula lesions.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative movement disorder that is caused predominantly by the degeneration of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathway. Lateral habenula (LHb) has efferent projections that terminate in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) and electrical stimulation of the LHb effectively suppresses the activity of dopamine-containing neurons in the SNpc. This study was aimed to investigate whether LHb lesions can ameliorate the syndromes of PD via affecting the activities of SNpc neurons in 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced PD model rats. ⋯ Therefore, we speculate that the LHb lesions induced a significant amelioration in motor disorders via increasing the DA levels in the striatum, which may lead to a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of PD.
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Parkinsonism Relat. Disord. · Oct 2014
Abnormal MoCA and normal range MMSE scores in Parkinson disease without dementia: cognitive and neurochemical correlates.
The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is increasingly being used as a cognitive screening test in Parkinson disease (PD). The MoCA's popularity likely reflects its ability to detect executive dysfunction, a relative deficiency of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). ⋯ PD subjects with normal range MMSE but abnormal MoCA scores had evidence of caudate nucleus dopaminergic denervation and mild cognitive changes, predominantly in executive function. The MoCA may be able to preferentially detect executive dysfunction compared to the MMSE, but the MoCA has limited diagnostic accuracy for PD-MCI, and should not be used alone to make this diagnosis.
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Parkinsonism Relat. Disord. · Oct 2014
Comparative StudyTract based spatial statistics in multiple system atrophy: a comparison between clinical subtypes.
Using a novel method of tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS), this study aimed to investigate micro-structural white matter similarities and differences between the two MSA variants. ⋯ These findings indicate that patients with MSA-C and MSA-P share similar diffusivity abnormalities in the bilateral CST and right ATR. Higher AD values of SLF in MSA-P than in MSA-C might be a reason for faster functional deterioration in MSA-P than in MSA-C.