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Background and purpose: Although the main clinical features of COVID-19 infection are pulmonary, several associated neurological signs, symptoms and diseases are emerging. Incidence and characteristics of neurological complications are unclear. For this reason, the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) core COVID-19 Task Force initiated a survey on neurological symptoms observed in patients with COVID-19 infection. Methods: A 17-question on-line survey was made available on the EAN website and distributed to EAN members and other worldwide physicians starting on April 9 th , 2020.Results: By April 27 th, 2020, proper data were collected from 2,343 responders (out of 4,199), of whom 82.0% were neurologists, mostly from Europe. Most responders (74.7%) consulted patients with COVID-19 mainly in emergency rooms and in COVID-19 units. The majority (67.0%) had evaluated fewer than 10 patients with neurological manifestations of .The most frequently reported neurological findings were headache (61.9%), myalgia (50.4%), anosmia (49.2%), ageusia (39.8%), impaired consciousness (29.3%), and psychomotor agitation (26.7%). Encephalopathy and acute cerebrovascular disorders were reported at 21.0%. Neurological manifestations were generally interpreted as being possibly related to COVID-19, they were most commonly recognized in patients with multiple general symptoms, and occurred at any time during infection. Conclusion:Neurologists are currently and actively involved in the management of neurological issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This survey justifies setting up a prospective registry to better capture the prevalence of patients with neuro COVID-19, neurological disease characteristics and the contribution of neurological manifestations to outcome.

The mechanisms underlying pain in Parkinson's disease (PD) are unclear. Although a few studies have reported that PD patients may have low pain threshold and tolerance, none could accurately assess whether there was a correlation between sensory thresholds and demographic/clinical features of PD patients. Thus, tactile threshold, pain threshold, and pain tolerance to electrical stimuli in the hands and feet were assessed in 106 parkinsonian patients (of whom 66 reported chronic pain) and 51 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects. Linear regression models determined relationships between psychophysical parameters and demographic/clinical features. Female gender, severity of disease, medical disease associated with painful symptoms, and dyskinesia were more frequently observed in PD patients experiencing pain, even though dyskinesia did not reach significance. Pain threshold and pain tolerance were significantly lower in PD patients than in control subjects, whereas the tactile threshold yielded comparable values in both groups. Multivariable linear regression analyses yielded significant inverse correlations of pain threshold and pain tolerance with motor symptom severity and Beck depression inventory. Pain threshold and pain tolerance did not differ between PD patients with and without pain. In the former group, there was no relationship between pain threshold and the intensity/type of pain, and number of painful body parts. These findings suggest that pain threshold and pain tolerance tend to decrease as PD progresses, which can predispose to pain development. Female gender, dyskinesia, medical conditions associated with painful symptoms, and postural abnormalities secondary to rigidity/bradikinesia may contribute to the appearance of spontaneous pain in predisposed subjects.