Abstract
Cognitive impairment (CI), previously considered an exclusion criterium for the diagnosis of multiple system atrophy (MSA) according to the second consensus criteria, is not uncommon in MSA. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has been reported in up to 47% of MSA patients, while severe dementia is rare. We related clinical CI with neuropathological findings in 48 autopsy-proven cases of MSA. This retrospective study included 33 parkinsonism predominant MSA (MSA-P), and 15 cerebellar ataxia-predominant MSA (MSA-C) cases (mean age at death 60.5 ± 7.8; range 46–82 years). Cognitive state was assessed from hospital charts, however, without comprehensive neuropsychological testing. Neuropathological examination, in addition to grading of the MSA pathologies, included semiquantitative assessment of Lewy and Alzheimer-related co-pathologies. Their incidence was compared with 143 age-matched controls (mean age 60.5 ± 7.6 years). MCI reported in ten cases (20.8%) was associated with moderate cortical tau pathology in only three; moderate CI in seven patients (14.5%) was associated with cortical amyloid plaques and moderate cortical tau pathology in six each, and one with probable primary age-related tauopathy (PART); a female aged 82 years with severe dementia showed fully developed Alzheimer disease. Cortical amyloid plaques, observed in eight cases, three of them without tau pathology, were associated with clinical MCI, as was cortical Lewy pathology in five. Two cases with cortical Lewy pathology and neuritic Braak stages II and III, and three with Braak stage IV, without cortical Lewy bodies, had shown moderate CI. Cortical Lewy pathology observed in four cases was not associated with clinical CI. 77.1% of the MSA cases were free of Alzheimer-type lesions, compared to 42% of controls; while Lewy pathology in the MSA cohort (22.9%) was significantly higher than in the control group (8.4%) both p < 0.001. Mild-to-moderate CI, reported in 35.3% of MSA patients, being significantly older than those without CI, were frequently associated with cortical Alzheimer (Braak stages III and IV) and Lewy pathologies, while only one with severe dementia had fully developed Alzheimer disease. In view of these findings in a limited series of MSA patients, further studies to elucidate the pathological basis of cognitive impairment in MSA are warranted.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- AD:
-
Alzheimer disease
- ADNC:
-
Alzheimer disease neuropathological changes
- Aβ:
-
β-Amyloid
- αSyn:
-
α-Synuclein
- CAA:
-
Cerebral amyloid angiopathy
- CI:
-
Cognitive impairment
- DLB:
-
Dementia with Lewy bodies
- GCI:
-
Glial cytoplasmic inclusions
- MCI:
-
Mild cognitive impairment
- MMSE:
-
Mini-Mental State Examination
- MSA:
-
Multiple system atrophy
- MSA-C:
-
Cerebellar ataxia-predominant MSA
- MSA-P:
-
Parkinsonism predominant MSA
- NCI:
-
Neuronal cytoplasmic inclusion
- OPCA:
-
Olivopontocerebellar atrophy
- PD:
-
Parkinson disease
- PSP:
-
Progressive supranuclear palsy
- SND:
-
Striatonigral degeneration
- TGCGs:
-
Tau-positive glial cytoplasmic granules
References
Abrahao A, Dutra LA, Braga Neto P, Pedroso JL, de Oliveira RA, Barsottini OGP (2011) Cognitive impairment in multiple system atrophy: changing concepts. Dement Neuropsychol 5:303–309
Aoki N, Boyer PJ, Lund C, Lin WL, Koga S, Ross OA, Weiner M, Lipton A, Powers JM, White CL 3rd, Dickson DW (2015) Atypical multiple system atrophy is a new subtype of frontotemporal lobar degeneration: frontotemporal lobar degeneration associated with alpha-synuclein. Acta Neuropathol 130:93–105
Asi YT, Ling H, Ahmed Z, Lees AJ, Revesz T, Holton JL (2014) Neuropathological features of multiple system atrophy with cognitive impairment. Mov Disord 29:884–888
Barcelos LB, Saad F, Giacominelli C, Saba RA, de Carvalho Aguiar PM, Silva SMA, Borges V, Bertolucci PHF, Ferraz HB (2018) Neuropsychological and clinical heterogeneity of cognitive impairment in patients with multiple system atrophy. Clin Neurol Neurosurg 164:121–126
Braak H, Braak E (1991) Neuropathological stageing of Alzheimer-related changes. Acta Neuropathol 82:239–259
Brown RG, Lacomblez L, Landwehrmeyer BG, Bak T, Uttner I, Dubois B, Agid Y, Ludolph A, Bensimon G, Payan C, Leigh NP (2010) Cognitive impairment in patients with multiple system atrophy and progressive supranuclear palsy. Brain 133:2382–2393
Bujan B, Hofer MJ, Oertel WH, Pagenstecher A, Burk K (2013) Multiple system atrophy of the cerebellar type (MSA-C) with concomitant beta-amyloid and tau pathology. Clin Neuropathol 32:286–290
Cao B, Zhao B, Wei QQ, Chen K, Yang J, Ou R, Wu Y, Shang HF (2015) The global cognition, frontal lobe dysfunction and behavior changes in chinese patients with multiple system atrophy. PLoS ONE 10:e0139773
Caso F, Canu E, Lukic MJ, Petrovic IN, Fontana A, Nikolic I, Kostic VS, Filippi M, Agosta F (2020) Cognitive impairment and structural brain damage in multiple system atrophy-Parkinsonian variant. J Neurol 267:87–94
Chang CC, Chang YY, Chang WN, Lee YC, Wang YL, Lui CC, Huang CW, Liu WL (2009) Cognitive deficits in multiple system atrophy correlate with frontal atrophy and disease duration. Eur J Neurol 16:1144–1150
Choi JH, Park SH, Park SS, Jeon B (2020) Brainstem-predominant Lewy-related pathology in a patient with Parkinson's disease without dementia. J Mov Disord 13:74–76
Crary JF, Trojanowski JQ, Schneider JA, Abisambra JF, Abner EL, Alafuzoff I, Arnold SE, Attems J, Beach TG, Bigio EH, Cairns NJ, Dickson DW, Gearing M, Grinberg LT, Hof PR, Hyman BT, Jellinger K, Jicha GA, Kovacs GG, Knopman DS, Kofler J, Kukull WA, Mackenzie IR, Masliah E, McKee A, Montine TJ, Murray ME, Neltner JH, Santa-Maria I, Seeley WW, Serrano-Pozo A, Shelanski ML, Stein T, Takao M, Thal DR, Toledo JB, Troncoso JC, Vonsattel JP, White CL 3rd, Wisniewski T, Woltjer RL, Yamada M, Nelson PT (2014) Primary age-related tauopathy (PART): a common pathology associated with human aging. Acta Neuropathol 128:755–766
Cykowski MD, Coon EA, Powell SZ, Jenkins SM, Benarroch EE, Low PA, Schmeichel AM, Parisi JE (2015) Expanding the spectrum of neuronal pathology in multiple system atrophy. Brain 138:2293–2309
Eschlböck S, Delazer M, Krismer F, Bodner T, Fanciulli A, Heim B, Heras Garvin A, Kaindlstorfer C, Karner E, Mair K, Rabensteiner C, Raccagni C, Seppi K, Poewe W, Wenning GK (2020) Cognition in multiple system atrophy: a single-center cohort study. Ann Clin Transl Neurol 7:219–228
Fanciulli A, Wenning GK (2015) Multiple-system atrophy. N Engl J Med 372:249–263
Fiorenzato E, Weis L, Seppi K, Onofrj M, Cortelli P, Zanigni S, Tonon C, Kaufmann H, Shepherd TM, Poewe W, Krismer F, Wenning G, Antonini A, Biundo R (2017) Brain structural profile of multiple system atrophy patients with cognitive impairment. J Neural Transm (Vienna) 124:293–302
Gatto E, Demey I, Sanguinetti A, Parisi V, Etcheverry JL, Rojas G, Wenning GK (2014) Cognition in a multiple system atrophy series of cases from Argentina. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 72:773–776
Geut H, Hepp DH, Foncke E, Berendse HW, Rozemuller JM, Huitinga I, van de Berg WDJ (2020) Neuropathological correlates of Parkinsonian disorders in a large Dutch autopsy series. Acta Neuropathol Commun 8:39
Gilman S, Wenning GK, Low PA, Brooks DJ, Mathias CJ, Trojanowski JQ, Wood NW, Colosimo C, Durr A, Fowler CJ, Kaufmann H, Klockgether T, Lees A, Poewe W, Quinn N, Revesz T, Robertson D, Sandroni P, Seppi K, Vidailhet M (2008) Second consensus statement on the diagnosis of multiple system atrophy. Neurology 71:670–676
Goedert M (2015) Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases: the prion concept in relation to assembled Abeta, tau, and alpha-synuclein. Science 349:1255555
Grimaldi S, Boucekine M, Witjas T, Fluchere F, Renaud M, Azulay JP, Guedj E, Eusebio A (2019) Multiple system atrophy: phenotypic spectrum approach coupled with brain 18-FDG PET. Parkinsonism Relat Disord 67:3–9
Hara K, Watanabe H, Bagarinao E, Kawabata K, Yoneyama N, Ohdake R, Imai K, Masuda M, Yokoi T, Ogura A, Tsuboi T, Ito M, Atsuta N, Niwa H, Taoka T, Maesawa S, Naganawa S, Katsuno M, Sobue G (2018) Corpus callosal involvement is correlated with cognitive impairment in multiple system atrophy. J Neurol 265:2079–2087
Hatakeyama M, Sato T, Takahashi T, Kanazawa M, Onodera O, Nishizawa M, Shimohata T (2018) Predictors of cognitive impairment in multiple system atrophy. J Neurol Sci 388:128–132
Homma T, Mochizuki Y, Komori T, Isozaki E (2016) Frequent globular neuronal cytoplasmic inclusions in the medial temporal region as a possible characteristic feature in multiple system atrophy with dementia. Neuropathology 36:421–431
Homma T, Mochizuki Y, Tobisawa S, Komori T, Isozaki E (2020) Cerebral white matter tau-positive granular glial pathology as a characteristic pathological feature in long survivors of multiple system atrophy. J Neurol Sci (in print)
Hong HJ, Song SK, Lee PH, Sohn YH, Lee JE (2011) Cognitive impairments in multiple system atrophy of the cerebellar type. J Mov Disord 4:41–45
Jellinger KA (2007) More frequent Lewy bodies but less frequent Alzheimer-type lesions in multiple system atrophy as compared to age-matched control brains. Acta Neuropathol 114:299–303
Jellinger KA (2012) Interaction between pathogenic proteins in neurodegenerative disorders. J Cell Mol Med 16:1166–1183
Jellinger KA (2018) Multiple system atrophy: an oligodendroglioneural synucleinopathy. J Alzheimers Dis 62:1141–1179
Jellinger KA, Korczyn AD (2018) Are dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson's disease dementia the same disease? BMC Med 16:34
Jellinger KA, Seppi K, Wenning GK (2005) Grading of neuropathology in multiple system atrophy: proposal for a novel scale. Mov Disord 20(Suppl 12):S29–36
Jones S, Troakes C, Bodi I (2020) Tau-positive glial cytoplasmic granules are hallmark of multiple system atrophy (abstr.). Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol 46(Suppl. 1):40
Josephs KA, Tsuboi Y, Cookson N, Watt H, Dickson DW (2004) Apolipoprotein E epsilon 4 is a determinant for Alzheimer-type pathologic features in tauopathies, synucleinopathies, and frontotemporal degeneration. Arch Neurol 61:1579–1584
Joutsa J, Gardberg M, Roytta M, Kaasinen V (2014) Diagnostic accuracy of parkinsonism syndromes by general neurologists. Parkinsonism Relat Disord 20:840–844
Kawai Y, Suenaga M, Takeda A, Ito M, Watanabe H, Tanaka F, Kato K, Fukatsu H, Naganawa S, Kato T, Ito K, Sobue G (2008) Cognitive impairments in multiple system atrophy: MSA-C vs MSA-P. Neurology 70:1390–1396
Kim HJ, Jeon BS, Kim YE, Kim JY, Kim YK, Sohn CH, Yun JY, Jeon S, Lee JM, Lee JY (2013) Clinical and imaging characteristics of dementia in multiple system atrophy. Parkinsonism Relat Disord 19:617–621
Kim JS, Yang JJ, Lee DK, Lee JM, Youn J, Cho JW (2015) Cognitive impairment and its structural correlates in the Parkinsonian subtype of multiple system atrophy. Neurodegener Dis 15:294–300
Koga S, Aoki N, Uitti RJ, van Gerpen JA, Cheshire WP, Josephs KA, Wszolek ZK, Langston JW, Dickson DW (2015) When DLB, PD, and PSP masquerade as MSA: an autopsy study of 134 patients. Neurology 85:404–412
Koga S, Parks A, Uitti RJ, van Gerpen JA, Cheshire WP, Wszolek ZK, Dickson DW (2017) Profile of cognitive impairment and underlying pathology in multiple system atrophy. Mov Disord 32:405–413
Köllensperger M, Geser F, Ndayisaba JP, Boesch S, Seppi K, Ostergaard K, Dupont E, Cardozo A, Tolosa E, Abele M, Klockgether T, Yekhlef F, Tison F, Daniels C, Deuschl G, Coelho M, Sampaio C, Bozi M, Quinn N, Schrag A, Mathias CJ, Fowler C, Nilsson CF, Widner H, Schimke N, Oertel W, Del Sorbo F, Albanese A, Pellecchia MT, Barone P, Djaldetti R, Colosimo C, Meco G, Gonzalez-Mandly A, Berciano J, Gurevich T, Giladi N, Galitzky M, Rascol O, Kamm C, Gasser T, Siebert U, Poewe W, Wenning GK (2010) Presentation, diagnosis, and management of multiple system atrophy in Europe: final analysis of the European multiple system atrophy registry. Mov Disord 25:2604–2612
Lantos PL, Quinn N (2003) Dementia with Lewy bodies. In: Dickson DW (ed) Neurodegeneration: the molecular pathology of dementia and movement disorders. ISN Neuropath Press, Basel, pp 188–199
Lee MJ, Shin JH, Seoung JK, Lee JH, Yoon U, Oh JH, Jung DS, Kim EJ (2015) Cognitive impairments associated with morphological changes in cortical and subcortical structures in multiple system atrophy of the cerebellar type. Eur J Neurol 23:92–100
Lin CW, Tseng CY, Lo CP, Tu MC (2016) A case of multiple system atrophy with preexisting Alzheimer's disease and predating the hot cross bun sign. Acta Neurol Taiwan 25(4):152–159
Lyoo CH, Jeong Y, Ryu YH, Lee SY, Song TJ, Lee JH, Rinne JO, Lee MS (2008) Effects of disease duration on the clinical features and brain glucose metabolism in patients with mixed type multiple system atrophy. Brain 131:438–446
McKeith IG, Boeve BF, Dickson DW, Halliday G, Taylor JP, Weintraub D, Aarsland D, Galvin J, Attems J, Ballard CG, Bayston A, Beach TG, Blanc F, Bohnen N, Bonanni L, Bras J, Brundin P, Burn D, Chen-Plotkin A, Duda JE, El-Agnaf O, Feldman H, Ferman TJ, Ffytche D, Fujishiro H, Galasko D, Goldman JG, Gomperts SN, Graff-Radford NR, Honig LS, Iranzo A, Kantarci K, Kaufer D, Kukull W, Lee VMY, Leverenz JB, Lewis S, Lippa C, Lunde A, Masellis M, Masliah E, McLean P, Mollenhauer B, Montine TJ, Moreno E, Mori E, Murray M, O'Brien JT, Orimo S, Postuma RB, Ramaswamy S, Ross OA, Salmon DP, Singleton A, Taylor A, Thomas A, Tiraboschi P, Toledo JB, Trojanowski JQ, Tsuang D, Walker Z, Yamada M, Kosaka K (2017) Diagnosis and management of dementia with Lewy bodies: fourth consensus report of the DLB Consortium. Neurology 89:88–100
Miki Y, Ling H, Foti SC, Strand KM, Asi YT, Jaunmuktane Z, Lees AJ, Warner TT, Quinn N, Holton JL (2020) Hippocampal a-synuclein pathology correlates with memory impairment in multiple system atrophy (abstr.). Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol 46(Suppl. 1):22
Mochizuki A, Komatsuzaki Y, Shoji S (2002) Association of Lewy bodies and glial cytoplasmic inclusions in the brain of Parkinson's disease. Acta Neuropathol 104:534–537
Montine TJ, Phelps CH, Beach TG, Bigio EH, Cairns NJ, Dickson DW, Duyckaerts C, Frosch MP, Masliah E, Mirra SS, Nelson PT, Schneider JA, Thal DR, Trojanowski JQ, Vinters HV, Hyman BT (2012) National Institute on Aging-Alzheimer's Association guidelines for the neuropathologic assessment of Alzheimer's disease: a practical approach. Acta Neuropathol 123:1–11
Morioka E, Kuroda S, Kuyama K, Otsuki S, Hosokawa K, Namba R (1987) An autopsy case of multiple system atrophy with many Lewy bodies-striatonigral degeneration, olivo-ponto-cerebellar atrophy and autonomic nerve nucleus involvement in the spinal cord. No To Shinkei 39:361–366
Nagaishi M, Yokoo H, Nakazato Y (2011) Tau-positive glial cytoplasmic granules in multiple system atrophy. Neuropathology 31:299–305
Nagayama H, Yamazaki M, Ueda M, Nishiyama Y, Hamamoto M, Katayama Y, Mori O (2008) Low myocardial MIBG uptake in multiple system atrophy with incidental Lewy body pathology: an autopsy case report. Mov Disord 23:1055–1057
Osaki Y, Ben-Shlomo Y, Lees AJ, Wenning GK, Quinn NP (2009) A validation exercise on the new consensus criteria for multiple system atrophy. Mov Disord 24:2272–2276
Ozawa T, Onodera O (2017) Multiple system atrophy: clinicopathological characteristics in Japanese patients. Proc Jpn Acad Ser B Phys Biol Sci 93:251–258
Ozawa T, Paviour D, Quinn NP, Josephs KA, Sangha H, Kilford L, Healy DG, Wood NW, Lees AJ, Holton JL, Revesz T (2004) The spectrum of pathological involvement of the striatonigral and olivopontocerebellar systems in multiple system atrophy: clinicopathological correlations. Brain 127:2657–2671
Peelaerts W, Bousset L, Baekelandt V, Melki R (2018) a-Synuclein strains and seeding in Parkinson's disease, incidental Lewy body disease, dementia with Lewy bodies and multiple system atrophy: similarities and differences. Cell Tissue Res 373:195–212
Piao YS, Hayashi S, Hasegawa M, Wakabayashi K, Yamada M, Yoshimoto M, Ishikawa A, Iwatsubo T, Takahashi H (2001) Co-localization of alpha-synuclein and phosphorylated tau in neuronal and glial cytoplasmic inclusions in a patient with multiple system atrophy of long duration. Acta Neuropathol 101:285–293
Robinson JL, Yan N, Caswell C, Xie SX, Suh E, Van Deerlin VM, Gibbons G, Irwin DJ, Grossman M, Lee EB, Lee VM, Miller B, Trojanowski JQ (2020) Primary tau pathology, not copathology, correlates with clinical symptoms in PSP and CBD. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 79:296–304
Rusina R, Bourdain F, Matej R (2007) Multiple system atrophy and Alzheimer's disease: a case report of a rare association of two neuro-degenerative disorders. Rev Neurol (Paris) 163:1239–1241
Saito M, Hara M, Ebashi M, Morita A, Okada K, Homma T, Sugitani M, Endo K, Uchihara T, Kamei S (2017) Perirhinal accumulation of neuronal alpha-synuclein in a multiple system atrophy patient with dementia. Neuropathology 37:431–440
Salvesen L, Ullerup BH, Sunay FB, Brudek T, Lokkegaard A, Agander TK, Winge K, Pakkenberg B (2015) Changes in total cell numbers of the basal ganglia in patients with multiple system atrophy—a stereological study. Neurobiol Dis 74:104–113
Santangelo G, Cuoco S, Picillo M, Erro R, Squillante M, Volpe G, Cozzolino A, Cicarelli G, Barone P, Pellecchia MT (2020) Evolution of neuropsychological profile in motor subtypes of multiple system atrophy. Parkinsonism Relat Disord 70:67–73
Shahnawaz M, Mukherjee A, Pritzkow S, Mendez N, Rabadia P, Liu X, Hu B, Schmeichel A, Singer W, Wu G, Tsai AL, Shirani H, Nilsson KPR, Low PA, Soto C (2020) Discriminating alpha-synuclein strains in Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy. Nature 578:273–277
Shibuya K, Nagatomo H, Iwabuchi K, Inoue M, Yagishita S, Itoh Y (2000) Asymmetrical temporal lobe atrophy with massive neuronal inclusions in multiple system atrophy. J Neurol Sci 179:50–58
Sikorska B, Papierz W, Preusser M, Liberski PP, Budka H (2007) Synucleinopathy with features of both multiple system atrophy and dementia with Lewy bodies. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol 33:126–129
Siri C, Duerr S, Canesi M, Delazer M, Esselink R, Bloem BR, Gurevich T, Balas M, Giladi N, Santacruz P, Marti F, Tolosa E, Rubino A, Meco G, Poewe W, Pezzoli G, Wenning G, Antonini A (2013) A cross-sectional multicenter study of cognitive and behavioural features in multiple system atrophy patients of the parkinsonian and cerebellar type. J Neural Transm (Vienna) 120:613–618
Sonnen JA, Postupna N, Larson EB, Crane PK, Rose SE, Montine KS, Leverenz JB, Montine TJ (2010) Pathologic correlates of dementia in individuals with Lewy body disease. Brain Pathol 20:654–659
Spires-Jones TL, Attems J, Thal DR (2017) Interactions of pathological proteins in neurodegenerative diseases. Acta Neuropathol 134:187–205
Stankovic I, Krismer F, Jesic A, Antonini A, Benke T, Brown RG, Burn DJ, Holton JL, Kaufmann H, Kostic VS, Ling H, Meissner WG, Poewe W, Semnic M, Seppi K, Takeda A, Weintraub D, Wenning GK (2014) Cognitive impairment in multiple system atrophy: a position statement by the neuropsychology task force of the MDS multiple system atrophy (MODIMSA) study group. Mov Disord 29:857–867
Swirski M, Miners JS, de Silva R, Lashley T, Ling H, Holton J, Revesz T, Love S (2014) Evaluating the relationship between amyloid-beta and alpha-synuclein phosphorylated at Ser129 in dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson's disease. Alzheimers Res Ther 6:77
Terni B, Rey MJ, Boluda S, Torrejon-Escribano B, Sabate MP, Calopa M, van Leeuwen FW, Ferrer I (2007) Mutant ubiquitin and p62 immunoreactivity in cases of combined multiple system atrophy and Alzheimer's disease. Acta Neuropathol 113:403–416
Tison F, Wenning GK, Daniel SE, Quinn NP (1995) Multiple system atrophy with Lewy bodies. Rev Neurol (Paris) 151:398–403
Toledo JB, Gopal P, Raible K, Irwin DJ, Brettschneider J, Sedor S, Waits K, Boluda S, Grossman M, Van Deerlin VM, Lee EB, Arnold SE, Duda JE, Hurtig H, Lee VM, Adler CH, Beach TG, Trojanowski JQ (2016) Pathological alpha-synuclein distribution in subjects with coincident Alzheimer's and Lewy body pathology. Acta Neuropathol 131:393–409
Trojanowski JQ, Revesz T (2007) Proposed neuropathological criteria for the post mortem diagnosis of multiple system atrophy. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol 33:615–620
Wenning GK, Tison F, Ben Shlomo Y, Daniel SE, Quinn NP (1997) Multiple system atrophy: a review of 203 pathologically proven cases. Mov Disord 12:133–147
Wenning GK, Geser F, Krismer F, Seppi K, Duerr S, Boesch S, Kollensperger M, Goebel G, Pfeiffer KP, Barone P, Pellecchia MT, Quinn NP, Koukouni V, Fowler CJ, Schrag A, Mathias CJ, Giladi N, Gurevich T, Dupont E, Ostergaard K, Nilsson CF, Widner H, Oertel W, Eggert KM, Albanese A, del Sorbo F, Tolosa E, Cardozo A, Deuschl G, Hellriegel H, Klockgether T, Dodel R, Sampaio C, Coelho M, Djaldetti R, Melamed E, Gasser T, Kamm C, Meco G, Colosimo C, Rascol O, Meissner WG, Tison F, Poewe W (2013) The natural history of multiple system atrophy: a prospective European cohort study. Lancet Neurol 12:264–274
Yamasaki TR, Holmes BB, Furman JL, Dhavale DD, Su BW, Song ES, Cairns NJ, Kotzbauer PT, Diamond MI (2019) Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy have distinct alpha-synuclein seed characteristics. J Biol Chem 294:1045–1058
Yang H, Luo X, Yu H, Guo M, Cao C, Li Y, Fan G (2020) Altered resting-state voxel-level whole-brain functional connectivity in multiple system atrophy patients with cognitive impairment. Clin Neurophysiol 131:54–62
Zhang W, Zhang Q, Yang Q, Liu P, Sun T, Xu Y, Qian X, Qiu W, Ma C (2020) Contribution of Alzheimer's disease neuropathologic change to the cognitive dysfunction in human brains with Lewy body-related pathology. Neurobiol Aging. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2020.1002.1022(in print)
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Mr. E. Mitter-Ferstl, PhD, for secretarial and editorial work.
Funding
The study was partially funded by the Society for the Promotion of Research in Experimental Neurology, Vienna, Austria.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The author declares that he has no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jellinger, K.A. Neuropathological findings in multiple system atrophy with cognitive impairment. J Neural Transm 127, 1031–1039 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-020-02201-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-020-02201-2