Neurosciences - March 2012 Archives

ROCHESTER, Minn. — People with symptoms suggesting rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, or RBD, have twice the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or Parkinson's disease within four years of diagnosis with the sleep problem, compared with people without the disorder, a Mayo Clinic study has found. The researchers published their findings recently in the Annals of Neurology. VIDEO ALERT: For video of Dr. Boeve talking about the study and for b-roll of study participants with RBD, visit the Mayo Clinic News Blog. One of the hallmarks of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is a state of paralysis. In contrast, people with rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, appear to act out their dreams when they are in REM sleep. Researchers used the Mayo Sleep Questionnaire to diagnose probable RBD in people who were otherwise neurologically normal. Approximately 34 percent of people diagnosed with probable RBD developed MCI or Parkinson's disease within four years of entering the study, a rate 2.2 times greater than those with normal rapid eye movement sleep. "Understanding that certain patients are at greater risk for MCI or Parkinson's disease will allow for early intervention, which is vital in the case of such disorders that destroy brain cells. Although we are still searching for effective treatments, our best chance of success is to identify and treat these disorders early, before cell death," says co-author Brad Boeve, M.D., a Mayo Clinic neurologist. Previous studies of Mayo Clinic patients have shown that an estimated 45 percent of people who suffer from RBD will develop a neurodegenerative syndrome such as mild cognitive impairment or Parkinson's disease within five years of diagnosis.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — A recent Mayo Clinic study on yips, a condition that has baffled golfers and scientists for decades, will be a featured presentation ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic and partners from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine and College of Pharmacy, the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and NeuroVista Corporation have been awarded a $7.5 million grant (U01) from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The research involves studying new ways to predict and control epileptic seizures in dogs and people. VIDEO ALERT: Journalists: video of a canine seizure is available at the Mayo Clinic News Blog. Epilepsy affects approximately 1 percent of the human population, with an estimated 50 million people worldwide currently suffering from the disorder. The hallmark of epilepsy is the seizure — a sudden and often violent event that strikes patients without warning. The goal of the research is to use information gleaned from real-time electroencephalograms (EEG) to consistently detect impending seizures, and develop methods of preventing these seizures through use of fast-acting drug therapies. The grant awards $1.5 million a year for up to five years. The principal investigators of the studies are Greg Worrell, M.D., Ph.D., Mayo Clinic; Ned Patterson, D.V.M., Ph.D., University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine; Jim Cloyd, Pharm.D., University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy; Charles Vite, D.V.M., Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine; Brian Litt, M.D., Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania; and Kent Leyde, chief technology officer of NeuroVista Corporation of Seattle, Washington. NeuroVista, a Seattle based company developing novel technologies for the management and treatment of epilepsy, has developed an implantable device system that continuously collects and analyzes EEG data to detect impending seizures. The system uses an external patient-carried device with a very simple interface—three colored lights—to indicate the risk of an impending seizure to the patient. The system is currently undergoing study in clinical trials in human patients being conducted in Australia. The NIH-funded research will involve applying the NeuroVista technology to dogs with naturally occurring epilepsy, and extending the technology by using it to guide the administration of fast-acting drugs to prevent seizures. It is hoped that this work will translate to a similar solution for human patients.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Researchers have identified a gene that causes adult-onset primary cervical dystonia, an often-painful condition in which patients' necks twist involuntarily. The discovery by a team from the Jacksonville, Fla., campus of Mayo Clinic and the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center sheds light on a movement disorder that physicians previously could seldom explain. Their research appears in the Annals of Neurology. In 1990, a man with a crooked neck came to see Ryan Uitti, M.D., a neurologist then at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Dr. Uitti knew about adult-onset primary cervical dystonia, which results in involuntary twisting of the neck to the left or right, backward or forward. Most people who have it suffer from muscle pain and abnormalities in head position. Some don't think it is all that unusual and may not seek medical help, Dr. Uitti says. "They think they slept wrong at some point, or, because the twisting might straighten out with another maneuver, such as walking backwards, they might actually be accused of being a little crazy," Dr. Uitti says. Dr. Uitti had been taught that there is usually no explanation for the disorder, when it shows up in adulthood. But working with a team of neurologists who have found the genetic causes of other rare conditions, Dr. Uitti began to investigate.