Search

Background To investigate whether structural network disconnectivity is associated with parkinsonian signs and their progression, as well as with an increased risk of incident parkinsonism. Methods In a prospective cohort (Radboud University Nijmegen Diffusion Tensor and Magnetic Resonance Cohort study) consisting of 293 participants with small vessel disease (SVD), we assessed parkinsonian signs and incident parkinsonism over an 8-year follow-up. In addition, we reconstructed the white matter network followed by graph-theoretical analyses to compute the network metrics. Conventional magnetic resonance imaging markers for SVD were assessed. Results We included 293 patients free of parkinsonism at baseline (2011), with a mean age 68.8 (standard deviation [ SD ] 8.4) years, and 130 (44.4%) were men. Nineteen participants (6.5%) developed parkinsonism during a median (SD) follow-up time of 8.3 years. Compared with participants without parkinsonism, those with all-cause parkinsonism had higher Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating scale (UPDRS) scores and lower global efficiency at baseline. Baseline global efficiency was associated with UPDRS motor scores in 2011 (β = −0.047, p  < .001) and 2015 (β = −0.84, p  < .001), as well as with the changes in UPDRS scores during the 4-year follow-up (β = −0.63, p  = .004). In addition, at the regional level, we identified an inter-hemispheric disconnected network associated with an increased UPDRS motor score. Besides, lower global efficiency was associated with an increased risk of all-cause and vascular parkinsonism independent of SVD markers. Conclusions Our findings suggest that global network efficiency is associated with a gradual decline in motor performance, ultimately leading to incident parkinsonism in the elderly with SVD. Global network efficiency may have the added value to serve as a useful marker to capture changes in motor signs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data supporting theoretical models linking autism spectrum disorders (ASD) to motor disturbance are inconclusive. In the present study, children and adolescents with ASD (n = 44) were compared with a matched group of typically developing individuals (n = 49) on both instrumental and observational assessments of motor abnormalities. No group differences were found in the instrumental data. However, more bradykinetic motor behavior was found using an observational scale in the ASD groups. More rigid motor behavior was found in the adolescents with ASD but not in the children. Individuals with ASD show significantly more hypokinetic behavior, which may not be strictly dopaminergic in origin, but may reflect a weak central coherency in neuronal networks related to the motor system in which developmental changes are present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]