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REM sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) is a parasomnia characterized by the loss of normal skeletal muscle atonia during REM sleep with prominent motor activity accompanying dreaming. The terminology relating to RBD, and mechanisms underlying REM sleep without atonia and RBD based on data in cat and rat are presented. Neuroimaging data from the few published human cases with RBD associated with structural lesions in the brainstem are presented, in which the dorsal midbrain and pons are implicated. Pharmacological manipulations which alter RBD frequency and severity are reviewed, and the data from human neuropathological studies are presented. An anatomic framework and new schema for the pathophysiology of RBD are proposed based on recent data in rat regarding the putative flip-flop switch for REM sleep control. The structure in man analogous to the subcoeruleus region in cat and sublaterodorsal nucleus in rat is proposed as the nucleus (and its associated efferent and afferent pathways) crucial to RBD pathophysiology. The association of RBD with neurological disease ('secondary RBD') is presented, with emphasis on RBD associated with neurodegenerative disease, particularly the synucleinopathies. The hypothesized pathophysiology of RBD is presented in relation to the Braak staging system for Parkinson's disease, in which the topography and temporal sequence of synuclein pathology in the brain could explain the evolution of parkinsonism and/or dementia well after the onset of RBD. These data suggest that many patients with 'idiopathic' RBD are actually exhibiting an early clinical manifestation of an evolving neurodegenerative disorder. Such patients may be appropriate for future drug therapies that affect synuclein pathophysiology, in which the development of parkinsonism and/or dementia could be delayed or prevented. We suggest that additional clinicopathological studies be performed in patients with dementia or parkinsonism, with and without RBD, as well as in patients with idiopathic RBD, to further elucidate the pathophysiology and also characterize the clinical and pathophysiological relevance of RBD in neurodegenerative disease. Furthermore, longitudinal studies in patients with idiopathic RBD are warranted to characterize the natural history of such patients and prepare for future therapeutic trials.

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease that typically affects optic nerves and spinal cord. Its pathogenic relationship to multiple sclerosis (MS) is uncertain. Unlike MS, NMO lesions are characterized by deposits of IgG and IgM co-localizing with products of complement activation in a vasculocentric pattern around thickened hyalinized blood vessels, suggesting a pathogenic role for humoral immunity targeting an antigen in the perivascular space. A recently identified specific serum autoantibody biomarker, NMO-IgG, targets aquaporin-4 (AQP4), the most abundant water channel protein in the CNS, which is highly concentrated in astrocytic foot processes. We analysed and compared patterns of AQP4 immunoreactivity in CNS tissues of nine patients with NMO, 13 with MS, nine with infarcts and five normal controls. In normal brain, optic nerve and spinal cord, the distribution of AQP4 expression resembles the vasculocentric pattern of immune complex deposition observed in NMO lesions. In contrast to MS lesions, which exhibit stage-dependent loss of AQP4, all NMO lesions demonstrate a striking loss of AQP4 regardless of the stage of demyelinating activity, extent of tissue necrosis, or site of CNS involvement. We identified a novel NMO lesion in the spinal cord and medullary tegmentum extending into the area postrema, characterized by AQP4 loss in foci that were inflammatory and oedematous, but neither demyelinated nor necrotic. Foci of AQP4 loss coincided with sites of intense vasculocentric immune complex deposition. These findings strongly support a role for a complement activating AQP4-specific autoantibody as the initiator of the NMO lesion, and further distinguish NMO from MS.

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Postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is defined by a heart rate increment of 30 beats/min or more within 10 minutes of standing or head-up tilt in the absence of orthostatic hypotension; the standing heart rate is often 120 beats/min or higher. POTS manifests with symptoms of cerebral hypoperfusion and excessive sympathoexcitation. The pathophysiology of POTS is heterogeneous and includes impaired sympathetically mediated vasoconstriction, excessive sympathetic drive, volume dysregulation, and deconditioning. POTS is frequently included in the differential diagnosis of chronic unexplained symptoms, such as inappropriate sinus tachycardia, chronic fatigue, chronic dizziness, or unexplained spells in otherwise healthy young individuals. Many patients with POTS also report symptoms not attributable to orthostatic intolerance, including those of functional gastrointestinal or bladder disorders, chronic headache, fibromyalgia, and sleep disturbances. In many of these cases, cognitive and behavioral factors, somatic hypervigilance associated with anxiety, depression, and behavioral amplification contribute to symptom chronicity. The aims of evaluation in patients with POTS are to exclude cardiac causes of inappropriate tachycardia; elucidate, if possible, the most likely pathophysiologic basis of postural intolerance; assess for the presence of treatable autonomic neuropathies; exclude endocrine causes of a hyperadrenergic state; evaluate for cardiovascular deconditioning; and determine the contribution of emotional and behavioral factors to the patient's symptoms. Management of POTS includes avoidance of precipitating factors, volume expansion, physical countermaneuvers, exercise training, pharmacotherapy (fludrocortisone, midodrine, ␤-blockers, and/or pyridostigmine), and behavioral-cognitive therapy. A literature search of PubMed for articles published from January 1, 1990, to June 15, 2012, was performed using the following terms (or combination of terms): POTS; postural tachycardia syndrome, orthostatic; orthostatic; syncope; sympathetic; baroreceptors; vestibulosympathetic; hypovolemia; visceral pain; chronic fatigue; deconditioning; headache; Chiari malformation; Ehlers-Danlos; emotion; amygdala; insula; anterior cingulate; periaqueductal gray; fludrocortisone; midodrine; propranolol; ␤-adrenergic; and pyridostigmine. Studies were limited to those published in English. Other articles were identified from bibliographies of the retrieved articles. 1,2 According to current criteria for adults, 3 POTS is defined by a heart rate increment of 30 beats/min or more within 10 minutes of standing or head-up tilt (HUT) in the absence of orthostatic hypotension; the standing heart rate is often 120 beats/min or higher. These criteria may not be applicable for individuals with low resting heart rate. For individuals aged 12 to 19 years, the required increment is at least 40 beats/min.3 The orthostatic tachycardia may be accompanied by symptoms of cerebral hypoperfusion and sympathetic hyperactivity that are reliev...

Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is the second most common cause of degenerative dementia after Alzheimer's disease. However, unlike the latter, the patterns of cerebral atrophy associated with DLB have not been well established. The aim of this study was to identify a signature pattern of cerebral atrophy in DLB and to compare it with the pattern found in Alzheimer's disease. Seventy-two patients that fulfilled clinical criteria for probable DLB were age- and gender-matched to 72 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease and 72 controls. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to assess patterns of grey matter (GM) atrophy in the two patient groups, relative to controls, after correction for multiple comparisons (P < 0.05). Study-specific templates and prior probability maps were used to avoid normalization and segmentation bias. Region-of-interest (ROI) analyses were also performed comparing loss of the midbrain, substantia innominata (SI), temporoparietal cortex and hippocampus between the groups. The DLB group showed very little cortical involvement on VBM with regional GM loss observed primarily in the dorsal midbrain, SI and hypothalamus. In comparison, the Alzheimer's disease group showed a widespread pattern of GM loss involving the temporoparietal association cortices and the medial temporal lobes. The SI and dorsal midbrain were involved in Alzheimer's disease; however, they were not identified as a cluster of loss discrete from uninvolved surrounding areas, as observed in the DLB group. On direct comparison between the two groups, the Alzheimer's disease group showed greater loss in the medial temporal lobe and inferior temporal regions than the DLB group. The ROI analysis showed reduced SI and midbrain GM in both patient groups, with a trend for more reduction of SI GM in Alzheimer's disease than DLB, and more reduction of midbrain in DLB than Alzheimer's disease. Significantly greater loss in the hippocampus and temporo-parietal cortex was observed in the Alzheimer's disease patients when the two patient groups were compared. A pattern of relatively focused atrophy of the midbrain, hypothalamus and SI, with a relative sparing of the hippocampus and temporoparietal cortex is, therefore, suggestive of DLB and this may aid in the differentiation of DLB from Alzheimer's disease. These findings support recent pathological studies showing an ascending pattern of Lewy body progression from brainstem to basal areas of the brain. Damage to this network of structures in DLB may affect a number of different neurotransmitter systems which in turn may contribute to a number of the core clinical features of DLB.

Objective To determine the pathologic substrates in patients with rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) with or without a coexisting neurologic disorder. Methods The clinical and neuropathologic findings were analyzed on all autopsied cases from one of the collaborating sites in North America and Europe, were evaluated from January 1990 to March 2012, and were diagnosed with polysomnogram (PSG)-proven or probable RBD with or without a coexisting neurologic disorder. The clinical and neuropathologic diagnoses were based on published criteria. Results 172 cases were identified, of whom 143 (83%) were men. The mean ± SD age of onset in years for the core features were as follows – RBD, 62 ± 14 (range, 20–93), cognitive impairment (n = 147); 69 ± 10 (range, 22–90), parkinsonism (n = 151); 68 ± 9 (range, 20–92), and autonomic dysfunction (n = 42); 62 ± 12 (range, 23–81). Death age was 75 ± 9 years (range, 24–96). Eighty-two (48%) had RBD confirmed by PSG, 64 (37%) had a classic history of recurrent dream enactment behavior, and 26 (15%) screened positive for RBD by questionnaire. RBD preceded the onset of cognitive impairment, parkinsonism, or autonomic dysfunction in 87 (51%) patients by 10 ± 12 (range, 1–61) years. The primary clinical diagnoses among those with a coexisting neurologic disorder were dementia with Lewy bodies (n = 97), Parkinson’s disease with or without mild cognitive impairment or dementia (n = 32), multiple system atrophy (MSA) (n = 19), Alzheimer’s disease (AD)(n = 9) and other various disorders including secondary narcolepsy (n = 2) and neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation-type 1 (NBAI-1) (n = 1). The neuropathologic diagnoses were Lewy body disease (LBD)(n = 77, including 1 case with a duplication in the gene encoding α-synuclein), combined LBD and AD (n = 59), MSA (n = 19), AD (n = 6), progressive supranulear palsy (PSP) (n = 2), other mixed neurodegenerative pathologies (n = 6), NBIA-1/LBD/tauopathy (n = 1), and hypothalamic structural lesions (n = 2). Among the neurodegenerative disorders associated with RBD (n = 170), 160 (94%) were synucleinopathies. The RBD-synucleinopathy association was particularly high when RBD preceded the onset of other neurodegenerative syndrome features. Conclusions In this large series of PSG-confirmed and probable RBD cases that underwent autopsy, the strong association of RBD with the synucleinopathies was further substantiated and a wider spectrum of disorders which can underlie RBD now are more apparent.