Purpose of review To review the recent advances in the epidemiology and pathophysiology of impulse control disorders (ICD) in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Recent findings Large cross-sectional and case-control multicentre studies show that ICDs in PD are common with a frequency of 13.6%. These behaviours are associated with impaired functioning and with depressive, anxiety and obsessive symptoms, novelty seeking and impulsivity. Behavioural subtypes demonstrate differences in novelty seeking and impulsivity suggesting pathophysiological differences. Observational and neurophysiological studies point towards a potential mechanistic overlap between the behavioural (ICDs) and motor (dyskinesias) dopaminergic sequelae. Converging data suggest dopamine agonists in ICDs appear to enhance learning from rewarding outcomes and impulsive choice. ICD patients also have enhanced risk preference and impaired working memory. Neuroimaging data points towards enhanced bottom-up ventral striatal dopamine release to incentive cues, gambling tasks and reward prediction, and possibly inhibition of top-down orbitofrontal influences. Dopamine agonist-related ventral striatal hypoactivity to risk is consistent with impaired risk evaluation. Summary Recent large scale studies and converging findings are beginning to provide an understanding of mechanisms underlying ICDs in PD which can guide prevention of these behaviours and optimize therapeutic approaches.

Central to COVID-19 pathophysiology is an acute respiratory infection primarily manifesting as pneumonia. Two months into the COVID-19 outbreak, however, a retrospective study in China involving more than 200 participants revealed a neurological component to COVID-19 in a subset of patients. The observed symptoms, the cause of which remains unclear, included impaired consciousness, skeletal muscle injury and acute cerebrovascular disease, and appeared more frequently in severe disease. Since then, findings from several studies have hinted at various possible neurological outcomes in COVID-19 patients. Here, we review the historical association between neurological complications and highly pathological coronaviruses including SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2. We draw from evidence derived from past coronavirus outbreaks, noting the similarities and differences between SARS and MERS, and the current COVID-19 pandemic. We end by briefly discussing possible mechanisms by which the coronavirus impacts on the human nervous system, as well as neurology-specific considerations that arise from the repercussions of COVID-19.