The Glymphatic System and Sleep Dysfunction in Parkinson's Disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by both motor and nonmotor symptoms, including significant sleep disturbances. The glymphatic system, a brain-wide clearance mechanism active during sleep, may play a key role in PD pathology by impairing the removal of toxic proteins like α-synuclein. Dysfunctional glymphatic clearance and disrupted sleep may create a cycle that accelerates neurodegeneration.

Striatal dopaminergic patterns and clinical features in frontotemporal dementia.

Frontotemporal dementia is a group of neurodegenerative disorders mainly characterized by behavioural and language impairments. While the precise pathophysiology remains elusive, emerging evidence points to an important role of dopamine dysfunction, particularly within the caudate nucleus. Moreover, a theoretical model proposes that frontotemporal dementia manifestations result from a deficit in goal-directed behaviour, which may be related to altered dopamine control of the frontostriatal circuitry.

Underdetection of neurocognitive disorders in Southern Italy: Evidence from the Salento region.

Background: Neurocognitive disorders, including dementia and mild cognitive impairment, are increasingly prevalent, demanding efficient detection and management strategies.

Objectives: This study is part of the Puglia Region's initiative under the Italian Dementia National Plan (DNP) and aimed to assess the capacity of the Lecce province healthcare system to identify new neurocognitive disorders cases by comparing observed cases with expected rates derived from meta-analyses and Global Burden of Disease estimates.

Design: Using complete case ascertainment across 10 hospital-based and community centers, a total of 857 incident cases were identified in one year, including 441 Minor neurocognitive disorders (51.

Donanemab eligibility in early Alzheimer's disease: A real-world study.

This study evaluates the real-world eligibility of patients with early Alzheimer's disease (AD) for donanemab, a monoclonal antibody targeting amyloid plaques. At a tertiary center in Italy, 408 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or mild AD were assessed against clinical trial criteria. While 41% were amyloid-positive, only 10.

Radiomics feature similarity: A novel approach for characterizing brain network changes in patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia.

Introduction: Network modeling is increasingly used to study brain alterations in neurological disorders. In this study, we apply a novel modeling approach based on the similarity of regional radiomics feature to characterize gray matter network changes in patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) using MRI data.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we assessed structural 3 T MRI data from twenty patients with bvFTD and 20 cognitively normal controls.

Contribution of fatigue experienced by Parkinson's Disease patients on caregiver burden.

Background: Fatigue is a common non-motor symptom (NMS) in Parkinson's disease (PD), affecting up to 50% of patients. It is suggested that PD-related fatigue may contribute to the burden perceived by caregivers.

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the impact of PD-related fatigue on caregiver burden.

Radiomic alterations and clinical correlates of hypothalamic nuclei in ALS.

Objective: The aim of this study is to analyze hypothalamic changes and clinical/metabolic correlates with a radiomic approach in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

Methods: We retrospectively identified 54 sporadic ALS patients and 53 matched controls. We compared radiomics features over hypothalamic subunits in T1-weighted.

Cyclic Alternating Pattern Dynamics in Individuals at Risk for Developing Parkinson's Disease.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the differences in cyclic alternating patterns (CAP) metrics, a non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep physiological rhythm, among recently diagnosed patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), and individuals at high and low risk for developing PD based on genetic and prodromal risk.

Methods: In this cross-sectional exploratory study, participants underwent clinical, cognitive, and motor evaluation to compute risk based on the Movement Disorder Society (MDS) prodromal criteria and a standard overnight polysomnography. CAP rate, CAP index, A index subtypes, number of CAP sequences, and CAP sequence duration were computed from the electroencephalogram (EEG) signal.

Structural covariance network patterns linked to neuropsychiatric symptoms in biologically defined Alzheimer's disease: Insights from the mild behavioral impairment checklist.

Background: The frequent presentation of Alzheimer's disease (AD) with neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in the context of normal or minimally-impaired cognitive function led to the concept of Mild Behavioral Impairment (MBI). While MBI's impact on subsequent cognitive decline is recognized, its association with brain network changes in biologically-defined AD remains unexplored.

Objective: To investigate the correlation of structural covariance networks with MBI-C checklist sub-scores in biologically-defined AD patients.

An Atypical Case of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome Presenting with Cacosmia and Amyloid Positivity.

This report presents a challenging case of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), a rare and rapidly progressing neurological disorder. The patient exhibited diverse and progressive neuro-psychiatric symptoms, including memory impairment, behavioral changes, and hallucinations associated with cacosmia. The diagnosis of CJD is complicated due to its variable clinical presentation, limited awareness, and the need for tissue pathology confirmation.

Nocturnal sleep dynamics alterations in the early stages of behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia.

Study Objectives: Sleep disorders have been recognized as an integral component of the clinical syndrome in several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, limited data exist for rarer types of neurodegenerative diseases, such as behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). This study aims to analyze EEG power spectra and sleep stage transitions in bvFTD patients, hypothesizing that bvFTD may show distinctive sleep stage transitions compared to patients with AD.

Coexisting Logopenic Variant of Primary Progressive Aphasia with Amyloid Pathology and Early Parkinsonism.

The presence of parkinsonism features in primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a subject of ongoing research. These features are usually more pronounced in the advanced stages of the disease, particularly in the non-fluent/agrammatic subtype, and are exceptionally rare in the logopenic variant (lvPPA). Here we report a case of a 63-year-old man presenting as language impairment, predominantly naming and word-finding difficulties, emerged alongside a left-sided internal tremor.

Mapping lower-limbs muscle vulnerability in patients with ALS: The role of upper and lower motor neurons.

Background: Several studies have reported disproportionate wasting of the flexor muscles of the lower limbs (LL) compared to the extensors in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, these studies have involved small sample sizes (n 〈100), and their findings have been inconsistent. Thus, it remains uncertain whether a distinct pattern of LL muscle weakness is specific to ALS.

The Network Structure of Cognitive Impairment: From Subjective Cognitive Decline to Alzheimer's Disease.

It was proposed that a reorganization of the relationships between cognitive functions occurs in dementia, a vision that surpasses the idea of a mere decline of specific domains. The complexity of cognitive structure, as assessed by neuropsychological tests, can be captured by exploratory graph analysis (EGA). EGA was applied to the neuropsychological assessment of people (humans) with subjective cognitive decline (SCD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer's disease (AD; total  = 638).

Irisin Levels in Cerebrospinal Fluid Correlate with Biomarkers and Clinical Dementia Scores in Alzheimer Disease.

Objective: Irisin, released by muscles during exercise, was recently identified as a neuroprotective factor in mouse models of Alzheimer disease (AD). In a cohort of AD patients, we studied cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma irisin levels, sex interactions, and correlations with disease biomarkers.

Methods: Correlations between CSF and plasma irisin levels and AD biomarkers (amyloid β 1-42, hyperphosphorylated tau, and total tau [t-tau]) and Clinical Dementia Rating Scale Sum of Boxes (CDR-SOB) were analyzed in a cohort of patients with Alzheimer dementia (n = 82), mild cognitive impairment (n = 44), and subjective memory complaint (n = 20) biologically characterized according to the recent amyloid/tau/neurodegeneration classification.

Sarcopenia in subjects with Alzheimer's disease: prevalence and comparison of agreement between EGWSOP1, EGWSOP2, and FNIH criteria.

Background: Sarcopenia is an age-related clinical syndrome characterized by the progressive loss of muscle mass and muscle strength. It appears to be closely linked to dementia, particularly Alzheimer's disease (AD); however, its prevalence among AD patients remains unclear. In this study, we assessed differences in sarcopenia prevalence between non-demented individuals and AD patients.

Deep Learning-based Approach for Brainstem and Ventricular MR Planimetry: Application in Patients with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy.

Purpose To develop a fast and fully automated deep learning (DL)-based method for the MRI planimetric segmentation and measurement of the brainstem and ventricular structures most affected in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Materials and Methods In this retrospective study, T1-weighted MR images in healthy controls ( = 84) were used to train DL models for segmenting the midbrain, pons, middle cerebellar peduncle (MCP), superior cerebellar peduncle (SCP), third ventricle, and frontal horns (FHs). Internal, external, and clinical test datasets ( = 305) were used to assess segmentation model reliability.

Dreaming Characteristics in Non-Rapid Eye Movement Parasomnia and Idiopathic Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behaviour Disorder: Similarities and Differences.

Background: Speech graph analysis (SGA) of dreams has recently shown promise as an objective and language-invariant diagnostic tool that can aid neuropsychiatric diagnosis. Whilst the notion that dreaming mentations reflect distinct physiologic processes is not new, such studies in patients with sleep disorders remain exceptionally scarce. Here, using SGA and other dream content analyses, we set to investigate structural and thematic differences in morning dream recalls of patients diagnosed with Non-Rapid Eye Movement Parasomnia (NREMP) and Idiopathic REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (iRBD).

Narcissistic Personality Disorder as Prodromal Feature of Early-Onset, GRN-Positive bvFTD: A Case Report.

Background: Behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) typically involves subtle changes in personality that can delay a timely diagnosis.

Objective: Here, we report the case of a patient diagnosed of GRN-positive bvFTD at the age of 52 presenting with a 7-year history of narcissistic personality disorder, accordingly to DSM-5 criteria.

Methods: The patient was referred to neurological and neuropsychological examination.

Distinct cognitive changes in male patients with obstructive sleep apnoea without co-morbidities.

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a multisystem, debilitating, chronic disorder of breathing during sleep, resulting in a relatively consistent pattern of cognitive deficits. More recently, it has been argued that those cognitive deficits, especially in middle-aged patients, may be driven by cardiovascular and metabolic comorbidities, rather than by distinct OSA-processes, such as are for example ensuing nocturnal intermittent hypoxaemia, oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and sleep fragmentation.

Methods: Thus, we undertook to define cognitive performance in a group of 27 middle-aged male patients with untreated OSA, who had no concomitant comorbidities, compared with seven matched controls (AHI mean ± S.

Sleep and circadian rhythm disruptions in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia.

Introduction: Sleep and rest-activity rhythm alterations are common in neurodegenerative diseases. However, their characterization in patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) has proven elusive. We investigated rest-activity rhythm alterations, sleep disturbances, and their neural correlates in bvFTD.

Sex differences in alpha-synucleinopathies: a systematic review.

Background: Past research indicates a higher prevalence, incidence, and severe clinical manifestations of alpha-synucleinopathies in men, leading to a suggestion of neuroprotective properties of female sex hormones (especially estrogen). The potential pathomechanisms of any such effect on alpha-synucleinopathies, however, are far from understood. With that aim, we undertook to systematically review, and to critically assess, contemporary evidence on sex and gender differences in alpha-synucleinopathies using a bench-to-bedside approach.