New and Noteworthy Information—August 2017

Sprecher KE, Koscik RL, Carlsson CM, et al. Poor sleep is associated with CSF biomarkers of amyloid pathology in cognitively normal adults. Neurology. 2017 Jul 5 [Epub ahead of print].

Is There a Link Between Parkinson’s Disease and Melanoma?

Melanoma and Parkinson’s disease may be associated, according to a study published in the July issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. For phase I of the Rochester Epidemiology Project, investigators used records to identify patients with Parkinson’s disease and match three controls per case. During phase II of this study, all Rochester Epidemiology Project cases of melanoma were identified, with one control per case. Investigators used a Cox proportional hazards model to assess the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease after the index date in cases versus controls, and performed Kaplan-Meier analysis to determine the 35-year cumulative risk of Parkinson’s disease. Patients with Parkinson’s disease had a 3.8-fold increased likelihood of having preexisting melanoma, compared with controls. Patients with melanoma had a 4.2-fold increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.

Dalvin LA, Damento GM, Yawn BP, et al. Parkinson disease and melanoma: confirming and reexamining an association. Mayo Clin Proc. 2017;92(7):1070-1079.

Zolpidem Treats Various Neurologic Disorders

A systematic review shows that zolpidem can treat various neurologic disorders, most often related to movement disorders and disorders of consciousness, according to a literature review published online ahead of print June 26 in JAMA Neurology. The investigators searched for English-language articles, published by March 20, 2015, that examined the use of zolpidem for noninsomnia neurologic disorders. Searched databases included PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, CENTRAL, and clinicaltrials.gov. In all, 67 articles were eligible for full manuscript review. Thirty-one studies treated movement disorders, 22 treated disorders of consciousness, and 14 treated other neurologic conditions. The effects of zolpidem were wide ranging and generally lasted for one to four hours before the participant returned to baseline. Sedation was the most common adverse effect.

Bomalaski MN, Claflin ES, Townsend W, Peterson MD. Zolpidem for the treatment of neurologic disorders: a systematic review. JAMA Neurol. 2017 Jun 26 [Epub ahead of print].

Colored Light Triggers Responses in Migraineurs

Lights trigger more changes in autonomic functions and negative emotions during migraine than in control subjects, and the association between light and positive emotions is stronger in control subjects than in migraineurs, according to a study published online ahead of print June 26 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers showed different colored lights to 81 migraineurs and 17 people who had never had a migraine. The effects of light and color were tested three times. Investigators found that all colors of light triggered unpleasant physiologic sensations in patients with migraines, during and between attacks. Additionally, migraineurs reported intense emotional responses such as anger, nervousness, hopelessness, sadness, depression, anxiety, and fear when exposed to all light colors except green.

Noseda R, Lee AJ, Nir RR, et al. Neural mechanism for hypothalamic-mediated autonomic responses to light during migraine. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2017 Jun 26 [Epub ahead of print].

TBI May Not Hasten Cognitive Decline

Having a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) with loss of consciousness does not affect the rate of cognitive change over time for people with normal cognition or people with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study published online ahead of print June 22 in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. Researchers compared performance on cognitive tests over time for 432 participants with normal cognition and 274 participants with probable Alzheimer’s disease. They matched participants with a history of TBI with loss of consciousness to an equal number of demographically and clinically similar participants without a history of TBI. Mixed-effects regressions showed that a history of TBI with loss of consciousness did not affect rates of cognitive change in APOE ε4 carriers and noncarriers.

Tripodis Y, Alosco ML, Zirogiannis N, et al. The effect of traumatic brain injury history with loss of consciousness on rate of cognitive decline among older adults with normal cognition and Alzheimer’s disease dementia. J Alzheimers Dis. 2017 Jun 22 [Epub ahead of print].

Visual Changes in Parkinson’s Disease

Visual system alterations can be detected in early stages of Parkinson’s disease, and the entire intracranial visual system can be involved, according to a study published online ahead of print July 11 in Radiology. Twenty patients with newly diagnosed Parkinson’s disease and 20 age-matched control subjects were studied. Researchers used diffusion-weighted imaging to assess white matter changes and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to investigate concentration changes of gray and white matter. In patients with Parkinson’s disease, significant alterations were found in optic radiation connectivity distribution, with decreased lateral geniculate nucleus V2 density, a significant increase in optic radiation mean diffusivity, and a significant reduction in white matter concentration. VBM analysis also showed a significant reduction in visual cortical volumes.