Saccade, pupil, and blink abnormalities in prodromal and manifest alpha-synucleinopathies
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SAGE Publications
Abstract
Neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's disease (PD) are on the rise. In the clinic, the phenotypic similarities between early stage PD and conditions such as early-stage multiple system atrophy (MSA) complicate treatment strategies. Accurately distinguishing these disorders is essential for developing treatments that can delay the progression from even prodromal through early symptomatic stages to full-blown disease. Eye tracking, an affordable and non-invasive diagnostic tool, measures eye movements, pupil size, and eye blinks to help locate problems in the brain. These measurements are important to help identify PD from other related brain disorders and assessing the severity of impairments. Our study compared eye movement behaviors between groups, including individuals diagnosed with PD, MSA, and people at risk of developing PD, such as those with isolated rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD), and healthy controls. Our results show that PD and MSA patients had irregular eye movements and pupil responses. iRBD patients, who carry a high risk of developing PD or MSA, had changes in pupil size similar to PD, suggesting that pupil changes could serve as early indicators for patients at risk for developing PD. Improved diagnostic accuracy enhances the testing of new treatment approaches and the quality of life for those affected by or at risk of developing PD.
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Except where otherwised noted, this item's license is described as Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International