The auditory startle response in parkinsonism may reveal the extent but not type of pathology.

Journal article

OBJECTIVES: We measured the acoustic startle response (ASR) and blink reflex (ABR) in patients with clinically diagnosed Parkinson's disease (PD) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and determined the specificity of an abnormal result for the diagnosis of PSP. METHODS: Thirty patients (11 PD, 19 PSP) and 12 age matched controls were studied. The PSP group was separated into clinical subgroups. Fourteen patients with early falls, cognitive dysfunction and eye movement abnormalities were c...

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Authors: Williams, DR; Doyle, L; Lees, A; Brown, P

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: Journal of neurology
• Volume: 255
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 628-632
• Publication date: 2008-05-01
• DOI: 10.1007/s00415-008-0758-1
• EISSN: 1432-1459
• ISSN: 0340-5354
• Language: English
• Keywords: Female; Diagnosis, Differential; Gait Disorders, Neurologic; Dementia; Blinking; Male; Antiparkinson Agents; Neck Muscles; Startle Reaction; Auditory Pathways; Supranuclear Palsy, Progressive; Tauopathies; Facial Muscles; Sensitivity and Specificity; Brain Stem; Aged, 80 and over; Middle Aged; Adult; Ocular Motility Disorders; Predictive Value of Tests; Parkinsonian Disorders; Humans; Levodopa; Aged