Acting out dreams predicts Parkinson’s and other brain diseases

Acting out dreams marks a disorder that occurs during the rapid eye movement (REM) phase of sleep. Apart from being hazardous to dreamers and their partners, REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) may foreshadow neurodegenerative disease, primarily synucleinopathies—conditions in which the protein alpha-synuclein forms toxic clumps in the brain. One of the most common RBD-linked ailments is Parkinson’s disease.

Some epidemiological studies suggest that enacted dreaming predicts a more than 80% chance of developing a neurodegenerative disease within the patient’s lifetime. It may also be the first sign of neurodegenerative disease, which on average shows up within 10 to 15 years after onset of the dream disorder. Click here to learn more.

I can do anything I want to do...deep brain stimulation ends decades of tremors

Sue Lareau was diagnosed with essential tremor at age 34. Thirty years later, she consulted with Dr. Mariel Szapiel, a board-certified neurosurgeon and director of functional neurosurgery at Orlando Health Neuroscience Institute, who recommended deep brain stimulation (DBS) to treat her symptoms. According to Dr. Szapiel, although essential tremor patients are generally treated with medications, DBS is an option when the medicine stops working. “It’s like a brain pacemaker,” said Szapiel. Click here to learn more.

Researchers have developed and characterized mouse models of Friedreich’s ataxia carrying a rare disease-causing mutation

The rare FXN gene mutation, dubbed G130V, is found in some FA patients alongside the common gene expansion defects seen in most cases. Although researchers found that mice with two equivalent mutations had undetectable frataxin, grew smaller and had low physical endurance and activity, their motor coordination remained intact.

According to researchers, this FA mouse model fills an important gap between milder expansion models and those with severe frataxin deficiency and can be used in therapeutic approaches, especially those relying on frataxin replacement. Click here to learn more.

Research opportunity for HD patients and caregivers

Rare Patient Voice (RPV) is recruiting participants for an important Huntington's disease study. This is a five-minute online survey, and the compensation is a $200 electronic gift card. Please sign up here to receive an email invitation to a screening survey to see if you qualify.

Rare Patient Voice connects patients and caregivers with the opportunity to voice their opinions through surveys and interviews to improve medical products and services, while earning cash rewards.

Algorithm suggests altered speech may be early sign of Parkinson’s disease

Speech acoustic analysis in Parkinson's disease has received growing scientific interest in recent years as a potential diagnostic biomarker. Studies have shown that subjects with early PD have various kinds of speech deficits. Recently, researchers developed an automated screening method that can distinguish between the voices of PD patients and healthy individuals. The researchers found their model could predict 80-90% of voices from those with PD. Click here to learn more.