MDS Podcast

Dr. Marina de Koning Tijssen, the 2024 Stanley Fahn Presidential Lecture Award Winner, discusses her career history and how much she learned just by talking to patients. She also shares her views on the role of AI in the clinic and what legacy she hopes to leave for future movement disorders specialists.

For this Hot Topic episode, Prof. Tiago Outeiro talks with Dr. Briana de Miranda about the basic science behind the relationship between pesticides and Parkinson's disease. Together they discuss the possible mechanistic action of these products and how dopaminergic neurons are more susceptible.

Prof. Daniela Berg joins Prof. Tiago Outeiro in this first Hot Topic episode focusing on pesticides and Parkinson’s disease (PD). Together they discuss the rise of PD, the impact of pesticides, and what should be done to safeguard people from potential harm.

Dr. Sara Schaefer interviews Dr. Roberto Erro on the phenotypic characteristics of essential tremor, essential tremor with soft dystonic signs, and tremor combined with dystonia through analysis of The Italian tremor Network (TITAN) data. Read the article.

Dr. Sarah Camargos interviews Dr. Giovanna Zorzi on the outcomes of a cohort of non-degenerative pediatric patients with idiopathic and genetic dystonia who were submitted to GPi-DBS and compares these outcomes with a meta-analysis of the literature. Journal CME is available until July 24, 2025 Read the article.

Studies have shown a close interplay between the cerebrovascular system and neurodegeneration. But what is the current evidence, and how can it help us better understand the pathophysiology of Lewy body disorders and potentially change their course? In this episode, Dr. Michele Matarazzo interviews Prof. Sephira Ryman about a recently published review article that explores the complexities of this...

In this episode, Dr. Joseph Seemiller and Dr. Kelly Mills discuss the changes in cognitive performance in the OFF and ON states during an acute levodopa challenge in a large cohort of patients with Parkinson's disease. Their study's findings suggest divergent complex changes in processing speed and executive function. Read the article »

In this episode, Drs. Gandolfi and Tinazzi discuss how virtual reality can be used as a therapeutic tool to modulate attention in patients with functional motor disorder, while measuring postural control. Read the article »

Prof. Rob de Bie joins Dr. Sara Schaefer to discuss the 5-year follow up extension to the Levodopa in Early Parkinson's disease (LEAP) study, including the results and indications for practice. Journal CME is available until July 01, 2025 Read the article.

Dr. Gennaro Pagano discusses the findings of the post-hoc analysis of the PASADENA trial, a study using the monoclonal antibody Prasinezumab directed at aggregated α-synuclein, where motor progression trajectories differed between active and placebo groups. Read article »

Dr. Eduardo Fernández and Dr. Daniel Weintraub discuss whether subjective cognitive complaints can predict future incident cognitive impairment and other questions related to early cognitive impairment in people with Parkinson's disease, referencing Dr. Weintraub’s recent article, "Association between subjective cognitive complaints and incident functional impairment in Parkinson's disease" publis...

Dr. Michele Matarazzo interviews Dr. Olivier Rascol on the results of the clinical trial recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Tune in to learn about the mechanisms of action and potential of lixisenatide and other GLP-1 receptor agonists in impacting the progression of Parkinson's disease. Read the article »

Dr. Müller-Vahl joins the podcast to discuss her retrospective study examining the key features in differentiating Tourette syndrome and Functional tic-like behaviors and that comorbidity is far more common than originally thought. Read the article »

In this Hot Topic episode, Dr. Sarah Lidstone moderates a discussion with Dr. Mark Hallett and Prof. Mark Edwards on the limitations of phenomenology in movement disorders. Drawn from a recent viewpoint by Prof. Edwards and using functional movement disorder as an example, they discuss the benefits and drawbacks of a phenotype equaling disease paradigm, the voluntary vs. involuntary movement disor...

Dr. Michele Matarazzo interviews Dr. Jacy Parmera about her recently published article on the clinical and neuroimaging characteristics of patients with corticobasal syndrome, with a focus on the potential correlation with the underlying neuropathological causes. Read the article »

Profs. Elena Moro and Ruth Walker discuss the management of chorea, including when this is appropriate. They focus on Huntington’s disease and the role of deep brain stimulation and other surgical interventions, in addition to medical management.

Dr. Sara Schaefer speaks with Doctors Xiaojun Huang and Jingying Wu about the phenotypic and genotypic spectrum of CSF1R-related disorder in a Chinese population, including unique clinical and radiographic characteristics. Journal CME is available until May 21, 2025 Read the article.

Dr. Ruth Walker and Dr. Molly Cincotta discuss causes of acquired chorea and approach to the work-up of a patient with an acquired chorea.

In this Hot Topic episode, Dr. Michele Matarazzo interviews Dr. Raul Martinez on the recent evidence and future applications of focused ultrasound-based ablations in movement disorders, such as Parkinson's disease and essential tremors. Discover how this innovative approach is improving patient care and what it could mean for the future of medical treatment.

In the latest installment of the Chorea Special Series, Dr. Ruth Walker interviews Prof. Sarah Tabrizi about the current state of therapies for Huntington’s disease, and what is coming down the pipeline.

Dr. Sarah Camargos interviews Dr. Zhonghbo Chen and Prof. Henry Houlden, first and senior author of a MDJ paper exploring a GGC repeat expansion in the ZFHX3 gene associated with spinocerebellar ataxia type 4. They describe a criative methodology to find a gene in a family with a Swedish ancestry. Journal CME is available until April 04, 2025 Read the article.

Dr. Ruth Walker invites Prof. Emilia Gatto and Dr. Kevin Peikert onto the MDS Podcast for the second episode of the Chorea Special series. Together they discuss the general approach to patients with chorea of genetic etiology, with specific clues to diagnosis in terms of neurological and other features. They also discuss the nomenclature of neuroacanthocytosis syndromes, specific clues to the diag...

Dr. Eduardo Fernandez discusses with Dr. Hiroaki Sekiya the surprising findings of his study evaluating the presence of concomitant pathologies and how they impact the disease progression in a large cohort of patients with MSA from the Mayo Clinic brain bank. Read the article

Guest editor Dr. Ruth Walker kicks off this special series on chorea by interviewing Prof. Joseph Jankovic on the phenomenology and his approach to the clinical examination of the patient with chorea.

In this episode. Prof. Bas Bloem provides an overview of the topics covered in his lecture at the MDS-ES Focused Workshop: Diagnostic and Progression Biomarkers in Parkinson’s Disease and Atypical Parkinsonism, and discusses how biomarkers may help us identify patients and select adequate therapeutic strategies.