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PD Population (pd + population)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	75%

Selected Abstracts

Cognitive impulsivity in Parkinson's disease patients: Assessment and pathophysiology,

MOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 16 2009
Gabriel Robert MSc
Abstract Impulsivity may be induced by therapeutic interventions (dopamine replacement therapies and sub-thalamic nucleus (STN) stimulation) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). The present review has two goals. First, to describe the most frequently encountered facets of cognitive impulsivity and to stress the links between cognitive impulsivity and aspects such as reward-related decision making, risk-taking, and time-processing in healthy population. The most widely used related cognitive impulsivity paradigms are presented. Second, to review the results of studies on cognitive impulsivity in healthy volunteers and in patients with PD, the latter support the applicability and clinical relevance of this construct in PD population. Data show that PD treatments may favor impulsivity via different mechanisms. Suggestions on the roles of dopamine and STN in the pathophysiology of cognitive impulsivity are proposed. © 2009 Movement Disorder Society [source]

Evaluation and analysis of reduction of late blight disease in a diploid potato progeny

PLANT PATHOLOGY, Issue 3 2001
B. R. Trognitz
The rate of late blight disease was analysed for individuals of a diploid Solanum phureja,Solanum tuberosum dihaploid hybrid population (PD), using three different assessment techniques, in the laboratory, screenhouse, and field. These hybrids expressed low disease rates in the field, comparable to resistance based on intact R genes. However, none of the parents of PD expressed any R genes and the pattern of segregation within the PD population was not indicative of R-gene inheritance. The foliage (or leaflet) area diseased had the largest broad-sense heritability of all criteria analysed, in all tests performed. In the field evaluations, the PD population showed intermediate levels of broad-sense heritability for foliage area diseased, relative to the much larger heritability detected for the group of controls possessing R genes. Resistance in the field of the PD hybrids had very little genotype-environment (G × E) interaction, indicating stability of its expression. All genotypes without R genes exhibited heritable, reduced rates of late blight disease in the field, but they were susceptible with low heritability in screenhouse and laboratory tests. This differential expression of disease indicates that the plants' indirect response to unknown environmental stress in the field may have been measured. The value of the PD hybrids for breeding of late blight resistant potato and the use of the disease rate data for detection of the underlying quantitative trait loci are discussed. [source]

Exploring the relationship between Parkinson's disease and hemifacial spasm

ACTA NEUROLOGICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 5 2006
E.K. Tan
Case reports of co-existent Parkinson's disease (PD) and hemifacial spasm (HFS) suggest that there may be a relationship between these conditions. Three of 300 (1%) PD patients presented with HFS compared with 0/300 (0%) controls. The mean age of the three PD patients with HFS was 68.7 ± 8.0 (60,76) years, with the majority having left-sided HFS. All three patients developed HFS symptoms at around the onset of PD and they were significantly older than the 100 patients with HFS alone (P < 0.05). Our study demonstrated no significant increased risk of HFS amongst the general PD population and hence HFS symptoms are unlikely to be of clinical importance for most PD patients. [source]

Cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease: Tools for diagnosis and assessment,,

MOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 8 2009
Jaime Kulisevsky MD
Abstract Cognitive impairment (CI) and dementia are frequent and debilitating features associated with Parkinson's disease (PD). Formal neuropsychological examination is required to ascertain the degree and pattern of CI over the course of the disease. The use of different tools may explain heterogeneous data obtained from studies to date. Normative data for extensively used scales [Mattis Dementia Rating Scale (MDRS), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE)] is incomplete in PD populations. According to sample characteristics, statistical analyses, and methodological quality, 33 studies using scales not specific to PD (MDRS, MMSE, Cambridge Cognitive Assessment, FAB) or PD-specific scales (Mini-Mental Parkinson, Scales for Outcomes of Parkinson's disease,Cognition, Parkinson's Disease,Cognitive Rating Scale, and Parkinson Neuropsychometric Dementia Assessment) were eligible for the critical analysis of their appropriateness to assess cognition in PD. Of the four scales specifically designed for PD, the SCOPA-COG and the PD-CRS have undergone extensive and rigorous validation processes. While the SCOPA-COG mainly assesses "frontal-subcortical" cognitive defects, the PD-CRS also assesses "instrumental-cortical" functions, allowing better characterization of the different patterns of CI that may be present in PD from the earliest stages. The MMP and PANDA scales were designed as brief screening tests for CI and have not yet been subjected to extensive clinimetric evaluations. Further research on PD-specific tools seems mandatory to help establish accurate cut-off scores for the diagnosis of mild PDD, detect cognitive profiles more prone to the future development of dementia, and allow comparisons between different descriptive or interventional studies. © 2009 Movement Disorder Society [source]