Abstract
Impairments of olfactory and speech function are likely early prodromal symptoms of α-synucleinopathy. The aim of this study is to assess whether dysprosody is present in isolated rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) with hyposmia/anosmia and a normal nigrostriatal system. Pitch variability during speech was investigated in 17 iRBD subjects with normal olfactory function (iRBD-NOF), 30 iRBD subjects with abnormal olfactory function (iRBD-AOF), and 50 healthy controls. iRBD subjects were evaluated using the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test and [123I]-2ß-carbomethoxy-3ß-(4-iodophenyl)-N-(3-fluoropropyl)-nortropane dopamine transporter single-photon emission computed tomography (DAT-SPECT). All iRBD subjects completed the 24-month follow-up with DAT-SPECT, speech, and olfactory testing. At baseline, only iRBD-AOF showed monopitch when compared to iRBD-NOF (P=0.04) and controls (P=0.03), with no difference between iRBD-NOF and controls (P=1). At follow-up, dysprosody progressed only in iRBD-AOF with abnormal DAT-SPECT (P=0.03). Prosody is impaired in hyposmic but not in normosmic iRBD subjects before the nigrostriatal dopaminergic transmission is affected (Braak stage 2). © 2021 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.
Published Version
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