Gait variability is linked to the atrophy of the Nucleus Basalis of Meynert and is resistant to STN DBS in Parkinson's disease.

ABSTRACT: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a systemic brain disorder where the cortical cholinergic network begins to degenerate early in the disease process. Readily accessible, quantitative, and specific behavioral markers of the cortical cholinergic network are lacking. Although degeneration of the dopaminergic network may be responsible for deficits in cardinal motor signs, the control of gait is a complex process and control of higher-order aspects of gait, such as gait variability, may be influenced by cognitive processes attributed to cholinergic networks. We investigated whether swing time variability, a metric of gait variability that is independent from gait speed, was a quantitative behavioral marker of cortical cholinergic network integrity in PD. Twenty-two individuals with PD and subthalami

SUBMITTER: Wilkins KB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7711311 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature