Future Perspectives on the Relevance of Auditory Markers in Prodromal Parkinson's Disease

Abstract

Research on auditory processing in Parkinson's disease (PD) has recently made substantial progress. At present, evidence has been found for altered auditory processing in the clinical stage of PD. The auditory alterations in PD have been demonstrated with low-cost and non-invasive assessments that are already used in routine clinical practice. Since auditory alterations have been reported early in disease progression, it would be highly relevant to investigate whether auditory markers could be provided in the prodromal stage of PD. In addition, auditory alterations in early stage PD might be modulated by dopaminergic medication. Therefore, the aim of this review is (1) to summarize the literature on auditory processing in PD with a specific focus on the early disease stages, (2) to give future perspectives on which audiological and electrophysiological measurements could be useful in the prodromal stage of PD and (3) to assess the effect of dopaminergic medication on potential auditory markers in the prodromal stage of PD.

Resting State Network alterations during Deep Brain Stimulation in Parkinson’s Disease

“…Non-motor symptoms of PD include abnormalities in auditory processing (De Groote et al, 2020a; Folmer et al, 2017; Güntekin et al, 2020). Although this could be attributed to aging, a recent study shows that alterations in auditory processing are found in newly diagnosed patients as well (De Groote et al, 2020b). The neural correlates of these abnormalities are not yet well understood.…”

Myoclonus and other jerky movement disorders

“…The influence of loading has been studied with help of the subject’s body weight, the startle reflex occurs more frequently during standing compared to sitting or standing with body weight support (i.e., bilateral unloading) ( Nonnekes et al, 2013 ). Third, individual features that have been suggested to influence the startle reflex are changes in an individual valence (e.g., with imagery, emotional associations, or odor), attentional focus, wakefulness (e.g., a decreased reflex response in NREM state), and auditory disorders ( Bohlin and Graham, 1977 , Ehrlichman et al, 1995 , De Groote et al, 2020 , Lang et al, 1990 , Silverstein et al, 1980 ). An increased auditory startle response has been associated with reduced sound tolerance, hyperacusis, and tinnitus ( De Groote et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Third, individual features that have been suggested to influence the startle reflex are changes in an individual valence (e.g., with imagery, emotional associations, or odor), attentional focus, wakefulness (e.g., a decreased reflex response in NREM state), and auditory disorders ( Bohlin and Graham, 1977 , Ehrlichman et al, 1995 , De Groote et al, 2020 , Lang et al, 1990 , Silverstein et al, 1980 ). An increased auditory startle response has been associated with reduced sound tolerance, hyperacusis, and tinnitus ( De Groote et al, 2020 ). Fourth, pharmacological tuning has been tried to enhance the startle reflex with local 5-OH-tryptophan, noradrenaline, and dopamine, or to decrease the response with cyproheptadine, and clonidine, without effect of acetylcholine ( Wilkins et al, 1986 ).…”

Parkinson’s Disease: An Overview on its Neurophysiologi-cal Effects and Potential Treatments

“…Therefore, to battle the alterations presented by PD such as sensory-perceptual alterations, cueing provides a great tool to mitigate these effects. In the current field of research, evidence of altered auditory processing has been found to provide beneficial results These alterations range from disturbances in the processing of acoustic features, speech perception and sensitivity to affective and linguistic parody (37,38). The sensitivity of this motor input can be attributed as a defect because of the basal ganglia dysfunction in PD (39).…”