The Neuropsychiatric And Motor Profile Of Gba-Associated Parkinson'S Disease: A Review

Background: Cognitive and motor decline, along with psychiatric symptoms, have a major impact on independence, nursing home admission, caregiver burden, and mortality in Parkinson's disease (PD). The single most common genetic risk factor for developing PD is a mutation in the glucocerebrosidase (GBA) gene.Methods: This work is a literature review regarding "GBA" and "Parkinson's disease" as conducted by PubMed search.Results: There is a higher prevalence of cognitive decline and more rapid trajectory of disease progression in PD-GBA carriers, compared to noncarriers. PD-GBA carriers also have domain-specific cognitive impairment, particularly in visual memory tasks. PD-GBA carriers may also have a more aggressive motor phenotype than noncarriers.Conclusions: Early identification of PD-GBA carriers may lead to targeted therapies and development of new treatments.