Pathologic Accumulation of α-Synuclein and Aβ in Parkinson Disease Patients With Dementia

Abstract

Dementia associated with PD has 2 major pathologic subgroups: neocortical synucleinopathy and neocortical synucleinopathy with Aβ deposition. Alzheimer disease with neocortical Aβ and tau deposition does not commonly cause dementia with PD. Furthermore, accumulation of Aβ is associated with lower survival rates in PD patients with dementia. Additional studies are needed to prospectively determine the association between α-synuclein and Aβ accumulation and the role of Aβ in the development and progression of cognitive impairment in PD.