Presentation description

Dysfunction in cholinergic processes in the brain could be the cause of the gait and balance impairments that are seen with a PD or ET diagnosis. The current impairment tests used are suboptimal. The pupillary light reflex (PLR) as well as the smell pathway both use cholinergic networks that can be affected by PD and ET. By assessing the presence of hyposmia and the PLR, we can strengthen the roles of these as noninvasive reliable indicators for PD and ET.