Tau seeding activity in skin biopsy differentiates tauopathies from synucleinopathies.

Most neurodegenerative diseases lack definitive diagnostic tests, and the identification of easily accessible and reliable biomarkers remains a critical unmet need. Since tau protein is highly expressed in skin of tauopathies patients, we aimed to exploit the ultrasensitive seeding activity assay (SAA) to assess tau seeding activity in skin of patients with tauopathies. In this multicentric, case-control study, patients with tauopathies and synucleinopathies were consecutively recruited and sex-matched to healthy controls (HC).

Slow wave activity across sleep-night could predict levodopa-induced dyskinesia.

A disruption in the slow wave activity (SWA) mediated synaptic downscaling process features Parkinson's disease (PD) patients presenting levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID). To corroborate the role of SWA in LID development, 15 PD patients with LID, who underwent a polysomnography before LID's appearance, were included. Slow wave sleep epochs were extracted, combined and segmented into early and late sleep.

Impairment of sleep homeostasis in cervical dystonia patients.

Alterations in brain plasticity seem to play a role in the pathophysiology of cervical dystonia (CD). Since evidences indicate that sleep regulates brain plasticity, we hypothesized that an alteration in sleep homeostatic mechanisms may be involved in the pathogenesis of CD. We explored sleep in control subjects (CTL) and CD patients before (T) and after (T) botulinum toxin (BoNT) treatment.