Apathy Predicts Dementia; More COVID Neuro Findings; Parkinson’s Immunotherapy

Apathy, but not depression, predicted dementia in cerebral small vessel disease. (Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry)

Cerebral organoids grown from strands of hair from Down syndrome donors showed potential as an early drug testing platform for Alzheimer’s disease. (Molecular Psychiatry)

What role does phase transition — the reorganizing process that allows, for example, vapor to condense into liquid — play in degenerative diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, frontotemporal dementia, and Alzheimer’s? (NPR)

British researchers identified a higher than expected number of COVID-19 patients with inflammatory syndromes including acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, which did not correlate with respiratory symptom severity. (Brain)

Headache and impaired consciousness associated with SARS-CoV-2 in cerebrospinal fluid were detailed in a case report. (Neurology)

The first two Huntington’s disease patients were treated in a phase I/II trial of a gene therapy known as AMT-130, uniQure said.

Babies exposed to Zika virus who appeared normal at birth showed a high frequency of anatomical and neurodevelopmental abnormalities over time. (JAMA Network Open)

Impaired visual BOLD response distinguished people with cerebral amyloid angiopathy from those with Alzheimer’s disease or mild cognitive impairment. (Neurology)

Older adults with both hearing and vision impairment had twice the risk of all-cause dementia. (Alzheimer’s & Dementia)

The first study of a specific active immunotherapy against alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s disease, PD01A, showed it was safe and well-tolerated over 3 to 5 years. (Lancet Neurology)

PTC857, an investigational small-molecule drug that inhibits 15-lipoxygenase, an enzyme that regulates oxidative stress, protein aggregation, and inflammation pathways, started phase I trials in Parkinson’s patients with GBA mutations, PTC Therapeutics announced.

Final results of the phase II ARPEGGIO trial, which demonstrated that laquinimod 0.6 mg did not produce a significant effect on brain volume loss in primary progressive multiple sclerosis at 48 weeks, were published in Neurology.