2023-07-03 04:48:15
[The Epoch Times, July 03, 2023](The Epoch Times reporter Linda compiles and reports) We have all felt at some point or another that someone is lurking behind us. But scientists have found that in some cases, it could be an early sign of Parkinson’s disease. This feeling, called “presence hallucination,” is often underestimated in people with Parkinson’s disease, but can be present very early in the onset of the disease. Research suggests that hallucinations should be taken more seriously.
Published in “June 29”Nature‧Mental HealthIn a study published in the journal Nature Mental Health, scientists report that having these early hallucinations early in a Parkinson’s diagnosis puts patients at risk of severe cognitive decline.
Parkinson’s disease is a disease of the central nervous system. It manifests as uncontrollable or involuntary movements, such as difficulty with balance, tremors, and stiffness. As the disease progresses, symptoms often gradually worsen to the point that walking and speaking become extremely difficult.
For the study, scientists and doctors at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) and Barcelona’s San Paolo Hospital collected data on 75 Parkinson’s patients aged between 60 and 70.
Participants were interviewed to assess their brain activity. Among patients who experienced hallucinations, the condition progressed more rapidly over the next five years.
The study’s lead authors – Fosco Bernasconi of the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory at EPFL and Olaf Blank, Chair of Cognitive Neuroprosthetics and head of the laboratory at EPFL “Previous evidence has linked complex ‘visual hallucinations’ in Parkinson’s disease to cognitive decline and dementia,” Olaf Blanke, director of the study, said in a statement to Newsweek.
“However, the fact that visual hallucinations usually occur in the middle and late stages of the disease does not mean that they are suitable early markers of dementia that develops later (sometimes five years or more). However, there is increasing evidence that, Complex visions are often preceded by many so-called ‘light’ hallucinations.”
These findings may help in the early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. Neurodegenerative diseases are often diagnosed too late to relieve severe symptoms. This research aims to detect early signs that this could change.
“These hallucinations may even precede motor symptoms and a Parkinson’s diagnosis. We therefore hypothesized that ‘mild’ hallucinations might also play a role in identifying cognitive decline,” the duo said.
“We were surprised to find that our data fit perfectly when combining the presence of these ‘mild’ hallucinations with changes in frontal lobe brain activity, which in turn correlated with changes in frontal lobe function. Therefore, we It was surprising to find that such clear, selective early frontal brain changes were associated with mild hallucinations.”
However, hallucinations are not always a sign of Parkinson’s. They can also occur in other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Lewy bodies.
“Such hallucinations have also been reported in patients with neurological and psychiatric disorders, as well as in healthy individuals facing extreme circumstances and even bereavement,” said Blank and Bernasconi. Most common and clinically relevant in dementia.”◇
Editor in charge: Li Ming
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