History of falls in Parkinson disease is associated with reduced cholinergic activity.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To investigate the relationships between history of falls and cholinergic vs dopaminergic denervation in patients with Parkinson disease (PD).

Background

There is a need to explore nondopaminergic mechanisms of gait control as the majority of motor impairments associated with falls in PD are resistant to dopaminergic treatment. Alterations in cholinergic neurotransmission in PD may be implicated because of evidence that gait control depends on cholinergic system-mediated higher-level cortical and subcortical processing, including pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN) function.

Methods

In this cross-sectional study, 44 patients with PD (Hoehn & Yahr stages I-III) without dementia and 15 control subjects underwent a clinical assessment and [(11)C]methyl-4-piperidinyl

SUBMITTER: Bohnen NI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2788804 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature