Participant completion of longitudinal assessments in an online cognitive aging registry: The role of medical conditions.

Introduction: This study aimed to understand whether older adults' longitudinal completion of assessments in an online Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD)-related registry is influenced by self-reported medical conditions.

Methods: Brain Health Registry (BHR) is an online cognitive aging and ADRD-related research registry that includes longitudinal health and cognitive assessments. Using logistic regressions, we examined associations between longitudinal registry completion outcomes and self-reported (1) number of medical conditions and (2) eight defined medical condition groups (cardiovascular, metabolic, immune system, ADRD, current psychiatric, substance use/abuse, acquired, other specified conditions) in adults aged 55+ ( 23,888).

Mild Parkinsonian Signs: A Systematic Review of Clinical, Imaging, and Pathological Associations.

Mild parkinsonian signs (MPS) have been widely studied during the past 3 decades and proposed as a risk marker for neurodegenerative disease. This systematic review explores the epidemiology, clinical and prognostic associations, radiological features, and pathological findings associated with MPS in older adults free from neurodegenerative disease. We find that MPS as currently defined are strongly associated with increasing age and increased risk of development of Parkinson's disease (PD), all-cause dementia, disability, and death.

The association of circulating amylin with β-amyloid in familial Alzheimer's disease.

Introduction: This study assessed the hypothesis that circulating human amylin (amyloid-forming) cross-seeds with amyloid beta (Aβ) in early Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Methods: Evidence of amylin-AD pathology interaction was tested in brains of 31 familial AD mutation carriers and 20 cognitively unaffected individuals, in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) (98 diseased and 117 control samples) and in genetic databases. For functional testing, we genetically manipulated amylin secretion in APP/PS1 and non-APP/PS1 rats.

Navigational cue effects in Alzheimer's disease and posterior cortical atrophy.

Objective: Deficits in spatial navigation are characteristic and disabling features of typical Alzheimer's disease (tAD) and posterior cortical atrophy (PCA). Visual cues have been proposed to mitigate such deficits; however, there is currently little empirical evidence for their use.

Methods: The effect of visual cues on visually guided navigation was assessed within a simplified real-world setting in individuals with tAD ( = 10), PCA ( = 8), and healthy controls ( = 12).

Frequency and circumstances of falls for people with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease: A cross sectional survey.

Objective: People with Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease may be at risk of falls due to distal muscle weakness and sensory impairment. We aimed to understand the frequency of falls in a cohort, where they occurred, injury and to what people attributed the possible cause.

Design: A cross-sectional survey design was used.

Neurite dispersion: a new marker of multiple sclerosis spinal cord pathology?

Objective: Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the multiple sclerosis spinal cord is limited by low specificity regarding the underlying pathological processes, and new MRI metrics assessing microscopic damage are required. We aim to show for the first time that (i.e.

The Skin and Parkinson's Disease: Review of Clinical, Diagnostic, and Therapeutic Issues.

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) and the skin are related in a number of ways, including clinical abnormalities of the disease itself and skin-related side effects of dopaminergic medication, pumps, and surgical therapies. Recent advances in understanding the role of α-synuclein suggest skin biopsies as a potential diagnostic or even a premotor marker of PD.

Methods: The PubMed database was searched for publications up to October 2015, and the current evidence on skin-related issues in PD was comprehensively summarized.

Revisiting the Syndrome of "Obsessional Slowness".

Background: Obsessional slowness (OS) denotes a rare condition of disablingly slow motor performance. It was originally described in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder as a "primary" condition; however, subsequent reports have included heterogeneous clinical populations. We wished to reassess patients with this diagnosis at our own institution and also revisit the literature to provide an overview of this condition.

Review of Severity Rating Scales for Restless Legs Syndrome: Critique and Recommendations.

Over the last decade, research in restless legs syndrome (RLS; also known as Willis-Ekbom disease) has increased dramatically. The International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society commissioned a task force to formally evaluate the available evidence on severity rating scales in RLS. A literature search retrieved instruments specific to RLS.

The Phenomenology of Functional (Psychogenic) Dystonia.

From the very first descriptions of dystonia, there has been a lack of agreement on the differentiation of organic from functional (psychogenic) dystonia. This lack of agreement has had a significant effect on patients over the years, most particularly in the lack of access to appropriate management, whether for those with organic dystonia diagnosed as having a functional cause or vice versa. However, clinico-genetic advances have led to greater certainty about the phenomenology of organic dystonia and therefore recognition of atypical forms.

Advances in the Genetics of Parkinson's Disease: A Guide for the Clinician.

Over the last 16 years, insights in clinical and genetic characteristics of Parkinson's disease (PD) have increased substantially. We summarize the clinical, genetic, and pathological findings of autosomal dominant PD linked to mutations in SNCA, leucine-rich repeat kinase 2, vacuolar protein sorting-35, and eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4 gamma 1 and autosomal recessive PD linked to ,PINK1, and DJ-1, as well as autosomal recessive complicated parkinsonian syndromes caused by mutations in ATP13A2,FBXO7,PLA2G6,SYNJ1, and DNAJC6. We also review the advances in high- and low-risk genetic susceptibility factors and present multisystem disorders that may present with parkinsonism as the major clinical feature and provide recommendations for prioritization of genetic testing.