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The MDS Podcast channel was created with the ultimate goal of improving education in Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders, while keeping MDS members, other neurologists, health professionals and neuroscientists updated with novel and clinically-relevant research findings. A monthly issue…

International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society


    • May 27, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • weekly NEW EPISODES
    • 12m AVG DURATION
    • 237 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from MDS Podcast

    SCA3 & life in the countryside: Exploring the interplay between genetics and environment

    Play Episode Listen Later May 27, 2025


    Dr. Sarah Camargos talks with Prof. Laura Bannach Jardim about how rural living might influence the age at onset of Machado-Joseph disease. Read the article.

    Special Series: Differential diagnosis of myoclonus

    Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2025


    Prof. Marina de Koning-Tijssen interviews Dr. Christos Ganos on the differential diagnosis of myoclonus. Dr. Ganos explains how he distinguishes between jerky movements based on clinical history and examination, and discusses the differential diagnosis across various parts of the body.

    Special Issue: Intraventricular infusion of anaerobic dopamine

    Play Episode Listen Later May 12, 2025


    Dr. Hugo Morales Briceno interviews Prof. David Devos from the University of Lille, France, about the results of the phase 1/2 clinical trial using intracerebroventricular anaerobic dopamine in Parkinson's disease with L-dopa-related complications. Read the article.

    Special Series: Electrophysiology with a focus on cortical myoclonus

    Play Episode Listen Later May 5, 2025


    Prof. Marina de Koning-Tijssen interviews Professors Anna Latorre and Shabbir Merchant on the topic of electrophysiology, with a focus on cortical myoclonus. Together they discuss the potential applications of electrophysiology for myoclonus in clinical practice. They also explore the complex interface between cortical myoclonus and epilepsy.

    What can the locus coeruleus tell us about cognition in Lewy body disorders?

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 28, 2025


    Dr. Michele Matarazzo interviews Prof. Irena Rektorová about her recent study on early changes in the locus coeruleus in mild cognitive impairment with Lewy bodies. Using neuromelanin-sensitive MRI, the study reveals selective vulnerability of the caudal locus coeruleus and its association with specific cognitive and other nonmotor features. The conversation explores the implications for early diagnosis, the “body-first” hypothesis, and the potential role of NM-MRI as a biomarker. Read the article.

    Special Series: Myoclonus new classification & treatment

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 21, 2025


    Prof. Marina de Koning-Tijssen interviews Prof. John Caviness on the topic of myoclonus, focusing on its new classification and treatment. They discuss the long-awaited recently published classification of myoclonus and explore the latest treatment options.

    Celebrating the Parkinson's community

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 11, 2025


    On this special World Parkinson's Day episode, Dr. Michele Matarazzo is joined by John Dean—speech-language pathologist and Chair of the MDS Allied Health Professionals Group—to explore the essential roles of care partners, allied health professionals, and the broader Parkinson's community. From physiotherapists to family members, we shine a light on the many people who support those living with Parkinson's disease every day. World Parkinson's Day

    Gender differences in DBS decision making

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 7, 2025


    Dr. Sara Schaefer discusses with Dr. Michelle Fullard the similarities and differences in how men and women with Parkinson's disease approach the decision of whether or not to undergo deep brain stimulation. Read the article.

    GLP-1 agonists in Parkinson's disease: New evidence, new questions?

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 31, 2025


    In this episode, Dr. Michele Matarazzo interviews Prof. Tom Foltynie about the recently published phase 3 clinical trial of exenatide as a disease-modifying therapy for Parkinson's disease in The Lancet. While the findings were disappointing, ongoing post-hoc analyses aim to understand the discrepancy with previous phase 2 results and explore how they might shape the future of exenatide and other GLP-1 agonists in neurodegenerative disorders. Read the article.

    Mitochondrial DNA copy number: A potential biomarker for Parkinson's disease progression

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 24, 2025


    Prof. Sarah Camargos interviews Prof. Sun Ju Chung about his recent paper in the Movement Disorders Journal investigating diagnostic and prognostic capabilities of measuring blood mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNA-CN) for Parkinson's disease. Journal CME is available until March 3, 2026 Read the article.

    tDCS for Tourette syndrome

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 17, 2025


    Dr. Sara Schaefer and Dr. Davide Martino discuss his recent paper exploring the use of transcranial direct current stimulation over the supplementary motor area for the suppression of tics in patients with Tourette Syndrome. Read the article.

    Are hyposmia and REM sleep behavior disorder reliable indicators of Lewy body pathology?

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 10, 2025


    There is an important role for cost-effective clinical biomarkers in the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. Dr. Eduardo de Pablo-Fernández and Dr. Cecilia Tremblay discuss how accurate hyposmia and REM sleep behavior disorder can predict Lewy pathology in a non-selected population using data from the Arizona clinicopathological study on Aging and Neurodegeneration. Read the article.

    Combined habit reversal and acceptance and commitment therapies for tics

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 3, 2025


    Dr. Jennifer Eisenhauer joins Dr. Sara Schaefer to discuss her recent article describing a combined therapy approach for adult patient with tics: habit reversal therapy (HRT) + acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). They further discuss what these therapies are, their effect in tics, what is gratifying about working with patients with tics, and next steps to determine efficacy of this approach. Read the article.

    Immune, metabolic and tau markers in blood cells in progressive supranuclear palsy

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 24, 2025


    Dr. Eduardo de Pablo-Fernández discusses and Dr Tommaso Schirinzi discuss the results of his study evaluating markers of immune response, metabolism, inflammatory regulation and tau levels in blood cells in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). They also discuss how these results contribute to the growing evidence of neuroinflammation contributing to the pathogenesis of PSP. Journal CME is available until October 21, 2025 Read the article.

    Focused ultrasound for cervical dystonia

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 17, 2025


    Dr. Shiro Horisawa discusses the latest clinical trial results on MR-guided focused ultrasound pallidothalamic tractotomy for cervical dystonia. He explores the technique's limitations, future prospects, and how it compares to existing therapeutic options. Read the article.

    focused ultrasounds cervical dystonia
    Hot Topic: Subcutaneous levodopa infusion

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 10, 2025


    Dr. Hugo Morales Briceno interviews Prof. Ray Chaudhuri to discuss the real world-use of levodopa subcutaneous infusion in patients with Parkinson's disease.

    Vibrotactile foot stimulation for freezing of gait

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 3, 2025


    Dr. Chan joins the podcast to discuss the results of their pilot study with Dr. Eduardo De Pablo-Fernández. The study uses a foot vibrotactile stimulation as an external cue for the treatment of freezing of gait in Parkinson's disease. Together they discuss how vibrotactile devices can be implemented in clinical practice. Read the article.

    Video-based machine learning for tic detection

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 27, 2025


    In this episode, Prof. Alexander Münchau talks about how machine learning video-based assessments can be leveraged to quantify tics in Tourette syndrome and how this technology has the potential to assist clinicians in tic detection. Read the article.

    Special Series: What's in store? The future of tremor research

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 20, 2025


    In this episode, Dr. Aasef Shaikh and Dr. Ming-Kai Pan give us a virtual guided tour of their labs, particularly discussing what they are presently working on. They further elaborate on how these studies can inform our understanding of tremor physiology and where they believe the field should be heading in order to finally understand tremor origin.

    Defining Parkinson's disease: where we are, where we are headed

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 13, 2025


    Dr. Michele Matarazzo interviews Dr. Victor Fung, President of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society and lead author of the recent viewpoint published in the Movement Disorders journal. Together, they explore the biological definition and classification of Parkinson's disease, discussing its key insights, future prospects, and the implications of recent advances in the field. Read the article.

    Special Series: The novel pharmacological and surgical treatments for tremor

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 6, 2025


    In this episode Dr. Ludy Shih briefly describes the current approach to tremor, including pharmacological treatments, botulinum toxin injections and deep brain stimulation. She further dives into the exciting new developments of the past few years and new drugs coming down the pipeline.

    Special Series: What's essential tremor?

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 16, 2024


    In this episode, the two souls at the center of the new tremor classification join the MDS Podcast to discuss what essential tremor is. Listen as Prof. Kailash Bhatia and Prof. Günther Deuschl walk you through their clinical methods and future outlook on essential tremor. Do they agree? Disagree?

    Skin tau as a biomarker of Huntington's disease

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2024


    Growing evidence suggests a contributory role of tau protein in the pathogenesis of Huntington's disease. In this episode, Dr. Eduardo de Pablo-Fernández discusses the potential role of skin tau quantification as a biomarker for Huntington's disease with Dr. Jaime Kulisevsky and Dr. Iñigo Ruiz-Barrio. The authors discuss the results of the recent study correlating skin tau quantification with clinical and radiological data, and the role of skin tau in defining HD subtypes. Read the article.

    Special Series: So common, so difficult: The phenomenology of tremor

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 2, 2024


    In this episode Dr. Alfonso Fasano interviews Dr. Petra Schwingenschuh on her approach to tremor in the clinic. She further explains the importance of a good history taking, how to clinically assess tremor of different body parts, and how to diagnose functional tremor.

    World Movement Disorders Day: Stigma in pediatric movement disorders

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 27, 2024


    Dr. Sara Schaefer interviews Dr. Jaclyn Martindale on stigma in the experiences of individuals with pediatric movement disorders and tic disorders. They discuss the reasons behind stigma, types of stigma, and ways that stigma is perpetuated and mitigated in this special episode for World Movement Disorders Day 2024.

    World Movement Disorders Day: How to fight stigma in Parkinson's disease

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 26, 2024


    Dr. Indu Subramanian shares her view on stigma affecting people with Parkinson's disease, along with some practical tips on how to fight it as doctors and as a society.

    World Movement Disorders Day: Stigma in movement disorders

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 25, 2024


    Dr. Natasha Fothergill-Misbah discusses stigma in movement disorders with Dr. Sara Schaefer, including the origins, types, and consequences of stigma, and how stigma may be perpetuated and combatted around the world.

    Special Series: How do we shake? The pathophysiology of tremor

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 18, 2024


    Dr. Rick Helmich tells us about the role of functional MRI in understanding the circuits of tremor. The conversation starts with a description of his most famous theory on the pathophysiology of Parkinsonism tremor ('dimmer-switch' hypothesis) and moves towards other forms of tremors, such as dystonic, Holmes and essential and even physiological tremor.

    Transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation for essential tremor

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 11, 2024


    Dr. Anna Latorre is interviewed by Dr. Sara Schaefer about her study exploring the role of transcutaneous spinal cord simulation for suppression of postural tremor in essential tremor, including the potential pathophysiological mechanisms and implications for therapeutic use. Journal CME is available until October 21, 2025 Read the article.

    Special Series: Why tremor?

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 4, 2024


    In the introductory episode for the Tremor Special Series, Dr. Elan Louis tells us about the epidemiology of tremor as well as patients' and health care providers' awareness (or lack thereof). He guides us through his journey from when his mentor suggested that he'd look into familial essential tremor to the most important discoveries of the last two decades. Finally he gives us a glimpse of what's about to come and why tremor matters.

    MDJ Research Article of the Year: Harmonizing genetic testing for Parkinson's disease

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 28, 2024


    Prof. Alessio Di Fonzo shares the results of his award winning, multi-center work examining genetic data from people with early-onset PD in hopes of highlighting the difficulties in interpreting genetic variants emerging from NGS-multigene panels. Read the article.

    An Online Mindfulness-Based Group Intervention for Tics

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 21, 2024


    Dr. Hannah E. Reese and Mr. W. Alan Brown discuss their pilot study of a mindfulness-based group virtual intervention for tic disorders, that was co-developed with patients. Read the article.

    Better understanding functional movement disorders • 2024 MDS Congress

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 7, 2024


    Dr. Alexander Lehn breaks down functional movement disorders; what is happening in the brain, what are the potential risk factors and what future treatments and clinical trials we have to look forward to.

    Biomarkers and basic science research • 2024 MDS Congress

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 7, 2024


    Prof. Brit Mollenhauer shares her excitement about basic science, including biomarker research, and how she believes MDS's diversity can help foster more collaboration between clinicians and basic scientists.

    Genetic dystonias and understanding molecular pathways • 2024 MDS Congress

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 7, 2024


    Prof. Michael Zech takes a dive into his talk on gene discovery in dystonia. He explains how new findings can provide insight into the pathophysiology of dystonia and improve patient care and treatment.

    New genes and technologies for movement disorder genetics • 2024 MDS Congress

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 7, 2024


    Dr. Kishore Kumar shares the new genes associated with Parkinson's disease, dystonia, and ataxia. He also shares how new technologies, like long read sequencing, can assist in finding epigenetic changes.

    Past, present, future: An interview with MDS President • 2024 MDS Congress

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 7, 2024


    Dr. Victor Fung sat down with Dr. Michele Matarazzo at the #mdscongress to reflect on the advice from his predecessors and how that is helping him achieve his goals as MDS President.

    The evolution of tremor • 2024 MDS Congress

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 7, 2024


    Dr. Aesef Shaikh shares the exciting developments in the world of tremor and how he believes the use of technology will help answer some of the field's big questions, including the personalization of treatment.

    Updates in PSP and Atypical PD • 2024 MDS Congress

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 7, 2024


    Dr. Günter Höglinger discusses new genetic findings and other exciting research surrounding PSP and other atypical parkinsonisms.

    What's new in the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease? • 2024 MDS Congress

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 7, 2024


    Alpha-synuclein based biomarkers have dominated the Parksinon's disease field over the past few years. Dr. Andrew Siderowf shares his views on the future of these biomarkers and what else the field may have in store.

    Which protein is it? Copathologies • 2024 MDS Congress

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 7, 2024


    Prof. Jeffrey Kordower shares the data in support of #PD being a copathology disease and what strategies may be in the future for protein aggregate clearance in age-related neurodegenerative diseases.

    What you missed: MDS Congress Day 4

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 1, 2024


    The last full day of #mdscongress 2024 was packed full of sessions and other activities. Prof. Huw Morris dives into the learnings from the day and recollects the excitement surrounding the much-loved Video Challenge.

    What you missed: MDS Congress Day 3

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 30, 2024


    Informative plenaries, exciting grand rounds and a historical faculty dinner filled the third day of the #mdscongress. Prof. Irena Rektorova shares her favorite moments and key takeaways.

    What you missed: MDS Congress Day 2

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 29, 2024


    The second day of #mdscongress was filled with various sessions and activities, including the presidential lectures & networking events. Dr. Michiko Bruno shares her appreciation for MDS camaraderie, and which sessions caught her eye.

    What you missed: MDS Congress Day 1

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 28, 2024


    The first day of the #mdscongress has come to a close. Listen as Dr. Davide Martino recalls the exciting topics discussed in the plenaries; including treatment for early PD, device aided therapies, dystonia and tremor.

    MDCP Research Article of the Year: The Role of Levodopa Challenge in Predicting the Outcome of STN DBS

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 27, 2024


    Award Replay: Dr. Eduardo Fernandez interviews Professor Günther Deuschl and Dr. Robin Wolke on their article on the challenges levodopa poses when predicting the outcome of subthalamic deep brain stimulation — which was recently named the Movement Disorders Clinical Practice journal Research Article of the Year. Read the article

    MDJ Review Article of the Year: Subjective Cognitive Complaints in Parkinson's Disease

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 27, 2024


    Dr. Sara Schaefer interviews Dr. Jennifer Goldman about her systematic review and meta-analysis on subjective cognitive complaints in Parkinson's disease, including the prevalence, epidemiology, and correlation with objective cognitive findings and neuropsychiatric disease. The article was recently named the Movement Disorders journal Review Article of the Year.

    Junior Awardee - SAA development for the differentiation of progressive supranuclear palsy and Parkinson's disease | Congress 2024

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 23, 2024


    Dr. Edwin Jabbari, a 2024 MDS Junior Award Winner, joins the MDS Podcast to share the results of his award-winning work on the development of a 4-repeat tau SAA and what led him to this work. He also shares helpful tips for other junior researchers.

    Junior Awardee - Understanding the optimal brain fingerprint to improve DBS outcomes in Parkinson's disease | Congress 2024

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 23, 2024


    Dr. Bahne Bahners, a 2024 MDS Junior Award Winner, discusses the path that led him to his chosen research topic and award. He shares the results of this novel investigation that studies the electrophysiological fingerprint of STN DBS clinical outcomes using local field potential and magnetoencephalography recordings.

    Presidential Lecture Awardee - Insight into clinical phenotyping and the role of AI | Congress 2024

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 16, 2024


    Dr. Marina de Koning Tijssen, the 2024 Stanley Fahn Presidential Lecture Award Winner, discusses her career history and how much she learned just by talking to patients. She also shares her views on the role of AI in the clinic and what legacy she hopes to leave for future movement disorders specialists.

    Presidential Lecture Awardee - The importance of alpha-synuclein research | Congress 2024

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 16, 2024


    Dr. Virginia Lee, the 2024 C. David Marsden Presidential Lecture Award Winner, recounts her career and what events lead her to study neurodegenerative disease. She also shares her insight into the importance of alpha synuclein research and advice for aspiring researchers.

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