Results of a Randomized Clinical Trial of Speech After Early Neurostimulation in Parkinson's Disease.

Background: The EARLYSTIM trial demonstrated for Parkinson's disease patients with early motor complications that deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN-DBS) and best medical treatment (BMT) was superior to BMT alone.

Objective: This prospective, ancillary study on EARLYSTIM compared changes in blinded speech intelligibility assessment between STN-DBS and BMT over 2 years, and secondary outcomes included non-speech oral movements (maximum phonation time [MPT], oral diadochokinesis), physician- and patient-reported assessments.

Methods: STN-DBS (n = 102) and BMT (n = 99) groups underwent assessments on/off medication at baseline and 24 months (in four conditions: on/off medication, ON/OFF stimulation-for STN-DBS).

An intensive exercise-based training program reduces prefrontal activity during usual walking in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Introduction: Parkinson's disease (PD) leads to a progressive loss of locomotor automaticity. Consequently, PD patients rely more on executive resources for the control of gait, resulting in increased prefrontal activity while walking. Exercise-based training programs may improve automaticity of walking and reduce prefrontal activity in this population.

Social perception and knowledge impairments in severe alcohol use disorder: Group and individual-level findings.

Background: Consistent data highlight the presence and clinical significance of social cognition impairments in severe alcohol use disorder (SAUD). However, social perception and knowledge (i.e.

Tackling heterogeneity: Individual variability of emotion decoding deficits in severe alcohol use disorder.

Background: Severe alcohol use disorder (SAUD) is associated with social cognition deficits. Patients with SAUD are impaired for the recognition of emotional facial expressions, particularly at early stages of abstinence. These deficits damage interpersonal relations and increase relapse risk.

Hostile attributional bias in severe alcohol use disorder.

Impairments in social cognition have been documented in severe alcohol use disorder (SAUD) over the past two decades. They have been linked with lower social functioning and poor treatment outcomes, illustrating their key role in the disorder. However, studies investigating social cognition in SAUD have largely focused on emotional decoding and theory of mind abilities, neglecting other important processes.

Electrophysiological Characterization of C9ORF72-Associated Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Retrospective Study.

Objective: C9ORF72 is the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The aim of the present study was to determine whether C9ORF72-associated ALS (C9-ALS) patients present distinctive electrophysiological characteristics that could differentiate them from non C9ORF72-associated ALS (nonC9-ALS) patients.

Methods: Clinical and electrodiagnostic data from C9-ALS patients and nonC9-ALS patients were collected retrospectively.

Experimental sepsis-associated encephalopathy is accompanied by altered cerebral blood perfusion and water diffusion and related to changes in cyclooxygenase-2 expression and glial cell morphology but not to blood-brain barrier breakdown.

Sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE) refers to brain dysfunction, including delirium, occurs during severe infection and is associated with development of post-traumatic stress disorder. SAE has been proposed to be related to reduced cerebral blood flow (CBF), blood-brain barrier breakdown (BBB), white matter edema and disruption and glia cell activation, but their exact relationships remain to be determined. In the present work, we set out to study CBF using Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) and grey and white matter structure with T2- and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) in rats with cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced encephalopathy.

Transatlantic Crossings: Early neurological exchanges between USA and France.

Transnational exchanges have existed for centuries, with both economic and cultural effects. At the end of the 18 century, in the aftermath of the French Revolution, medical education in France underwent radical innovations, prefiguring the training system now almost universally accepted. This paper presents 19 and early 20 century neurology-related exchanges between the United States (US) and Europe, particularly, Paris, which had become a major medical center and where many US neurologists were trained.

[Parkinson's disease treatment: from honey moon to motor fluctuations].

Parkinson's disease treatment: from honey moon to motor fluctuations. The treatment of Parkinson's disease remains symptomatic but allows, for many years, a good control of motor and non-motor signs. This treatment is complex and has to deal with very heterogeneous motor and non-motor presentation.

A new MRI marker of ataxia with oculomotor apraxia.

Purpose: Evaluate the specificity and sensitivity of disappearance of susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) dentate nuclei (DN) hypointensity in oculomotor apraxia patients (AOA).

Method: In this prospective study, 27 patients with autosomal genetic ataxia (AOA (n = 11), Friedreich ataxia and ataxia with vitamin E deficit (n = 4), and dominant genetic ataxia (n = 12)) were included along with fifteen healthy controls. MRIs were qualitatively classified for the presence or absence of DN hypointensity on FLAIR and SWI sequences.

The Neuropsychiatric Fluctuations Scale for Parkinson's Disease: A Pilot Study.

Background: Non-motor fluctuations represent a main source of disability in Parkinson's disease (PD). Among them, neuropsychiatric fluctuations are the most frequent and are often under-recognized by patients and physicians, partly because specific tools for assessment of neuropsychiatric fluctuations are lacking.

Objective: To develop a scale for detecting and evaluating the presence and the severity of neuropsychological symptoms during the ON and OFF phases of non-motor fluctuations.

Molecular Imaging of Opioid System in Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease.

Opioid receptors are localized throughout peripheral and central nervous system and interact with endogenous opioid peptides and drugs including heroin, synthetic opioids, and pain relievers (codeine, morphine). If several opioid PET tracers exist for preclinical studies, only a few have been used in human. Some tracers are selective for one subtype of opioid receptors (e.

Deep brain stimulation does not enhance neuroinflammation in multiple system atrophy.

Slowly progressive, levodopa-responsive multiple system atrophy (MSA) may be misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease (PD). Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is mostly ineffective in these patients and may even worsen the clinical course. Here we assessed whether neuropathological differences between patients with MSA who were treated with DBS of the subthalamic nucleus because of a misleading clinical presentation and typical disease cases may explain the more benign disease course of the former, and also the rapid clinical decline after surgery.

Efficacy of Exome-Targeted Capture Sequencing to Detect Mutations in Known Cerebellar Ataxia Genes.

Importance: Molecular diagnosis is difficult to achieve in disease groups with a highly heterogeneous genetic background, such as cerebellar ataxia (CA). In many patients, candidate gene sequencing or focused resequencing arrays do not allow investigators to reach a genetic conclusion.

Objectives: To assess the efficacy of exome-targeted capture sequencing to detect mutations in genes broadly linked to CA in a large cohort of undiagnosed patients and to investigate their prevalence.

Behavioural outcomes of subthalamic stimulation and medical therapy versus medical therapy alone for Parkinson's disease with early motor complications (EARLYSTIM trial): secondary analysis of an open-label randomised trial.

Background: Although subthalamic stimulation is a recognised treatment for motor complications in Parkinson's disease, reports on behavioural outcomes are controversial, which represents a major challenge when counselling candidates for subthalamic stimulation. We aimed to assess changes in behaviour in patients with Parkinson's disease receiving combined treatment with subthalamic stimulation and medical therapy over a 2-year follow-up period as compared with the behavioural evolution under medical therapy alone.

Methods: We did a parallel, open-label study (EARLYSTIM) at 17 surgical centres in France (n=8) and Germany (n=9).

Subthalamic stimulation and neuropsychiatric symptoms in Parkinson's disease: results from a long-term follow-up cohort study.

Background: Reports on behavioural outcomes after subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation in Parkinson's disease are controversial and limited to short-term data. Long-term observation in a large cohort allows a better counselling and management.

Methods: To determine whether a long-term treatment with subthalamic stimulation induces or reduces impulse control behaviours, neuropsychiatric fluctuations and apathy, 69 patients treated with subthalamic stimulation are prospectively and retrospectively assessed using Ardouin Scale of Behavior in Parkinson's Disease before and after 3-10 years of stimulation.

Deciphering the microstructure of hippocampal subfields with in vivo DTI and NODDI: Applications to experimental multiple sclerosis.

The hippocampus contains distinct populations of neurons organized into separate anatomical subfields and layers with differential vulnerability to pathological mechanisms. The ability of in vivo neuroimaging to pinpoint regional vulnerability is especially important for better understanding of hippocampal pathology at the early stage of neurodegenerative disorders and for monitoring future therapeutic strategies. This is the case for instance in multiple sclerosis whose neurodegenerative component can affect the hippocampus from the early stage.

Allbutt of Leeds and Duchenne de Boulogne: Newly discovered insights on Duchenne by a British neuropsychiatrist.

It is well-established that Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne de Boulogne (1806-1875), and Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893) were the founding fathers of Parisian and French neurology during the second half of the 19th century, although much more is known about Charcot than about his "master" Duchenne. In Britain, Thomas Clifford Allbutt (1836-1925) was Leeds' most distinguished physician of the 19th century, eventually becoming Regius Professor of Physic at Cambridge. Allbutt's 1860-1861 year of postgraduate study in Paris and his friendship with Duchenne profoundly influenced his own contributions to nervous system and mental diseases, partly in collaboration with his colleague James Crichton-Browne (1840-1938) at the nearby West Riding Lunatic Asylum in Wakefield, Yorkshire.

Psychostimulant effect of dopaminergic treatment and addictions in Parkinson's disease.

Background: Dopamine replacement therapy in PD has been associated with both behavioral addictions and dopamine addiction.

Objectives: To investigate potential association between l-dopa induced neuropsychiatric fluctuations and addictions in PD.

Methods: A cohort of 102 patients with PD suffering from motor complications of l-dopa treatment was prospectively analyzed.

Personality, dopamine, and Parkinson's disease: Insights from subthalamic stimulation.

Background: Subthalamic stimulation improves the motor and neuropsychiatric symptoms of Parkinson's disease. However, the impact of this treatment on impulse control and personality is the subject of heavy debate. The objective of this study was to investigate personality changes after subthalamic stimulation.

Optimizing the deep brain stimulation care pathway in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Management of Parkinson's disease (PD) using deep brain stimulation (DBS) requires complex care in specialized, multidisciplinary centers. A well-organized, efficient patient flow is crucial to ensure that eligible patients can quickly access DBS. Delays or inefficiencies in patient care may impact a center's ability to meet demand, creating a capacity bottleneck.

Molecular imaging to track Parkinson's disease and atypical parkinsonisms: New imaging frontiers.

Molecular imaging has proven to be a powerful tool for investigation of parkinsonian disorders. One current challenge is to identify biomarkers of early changes that may predict the clinical trajectory of parkinsonian disorders. Exciting new tracer developments hold the potential for in vivo markers of underlying pathology.

[Not Available].

Role of brain imaging for Parkinsonism T brain MRI is normal in Pakinson's disease. Brain MRI is useless when clinical presentation is typical of idiopathic Parkinson's disease. Brain MRI is the exam of choice for differentiating idiopathic Parkinson's disease and atypical parkinsonism.