Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0030567 (Parkinson's disease)
 63,064 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Parkinsonians with predominantly unilateral signs provide an interesting experimental means to evaluate if asymmetric nigro-striatal degeneration may affect neuropsychological functions. The aim of our study was to establish if the side of onset of idiopathic Parkinson's disease, right (PDR) or left (PDL), determines a selective pattern of cognitive performances. Furthermore, we verified if PDR and PDL groups show a different frequency of dementia. PDR and PDL patients with at least seven years of disease duration, matched for age, schooling, severity of extrapyramidal symptomatology and index of lateralization, were evaluated by using an extensive neuropsychological battery aimed at assessing hemispheric cognitive asymmetries. Current side of greater motor impairment was the same as the one affected at the onset of the disease. Only subtle differences in the profile of neuropsychological dysfunction emerged from the comparison of PDR and PDL subjects. Moreover, the number of parkinsonians showing dementia syndrome was the same in both groups. Our results suggest that the side of onset of motor impairment does not significantly influence the cognitive performances in PD. Subcortical anatomic and/or functional asymmetries seem to play a less important role in the intellectual functions than in motor activities.
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PMID:Neuropsychological characteristics of parkinsonian patients with lateralized motor impairment. 852 1

Persisting asymmetry of motor symptoms are characteristic of Parkinson's disease (PD). We investigated the possible lateralized effects on regional cerebral blood flow (CBF), CBF-connectivity, and laterality index (LI) among PD subtypes using arterial spin labeling (ASL). Forty-four left-sided symptom dominance patients (PDL), forty-eight right-sided symptom dominance patients (PDR), and forty-five matched HCs were included. Group comparisons were performed for the regional normalized CBF, CBF-connectivity and LI of basal ganglia (BA) subregions. The PDL patients had lower CBF in right calcarine sulcus and right supramarginal gyrus compared to the PDR and the HC subjects. Regional perfusion alterations seemed more extensive in the PDL than in the PDR group. In the PDL, correlations were identified between right thalamus and motor severity, between right fusiform gyrus and global cognitive performance. None of correlations survived after multiple comparisons correction. The significantly altered CBF-connectivity among the three groups included: unilateral putamen, unilateral globus pallidus, and right thalamus. LI score in the putamen was significantly different among groups. Motor-symptom laterality in PD may exhibit asymmetric regional and interregional abnormalities of CBF properties, particularly in PDL patients. This preliminary study underlines the necessity of classifying PD subgroups based on asymmetric motor symptoms and the potential application of CBF properties underlying neuropathology in PD.
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PMID:Motor asymmetry related cerebral perfusion patterns in Parkinson's disease: An arterial spin labeling study. 3301 7