Performance on the PD test battery by relatives of patients with progressive supranuclear palsy

Objective: To determine whether there is a greater prevalence of asymptomat ic first-degree relatives (FDR) of patients with progressive supranuclear p alsy (PSP) performing abnormally on the PD test battery (PD Battery) compar ed to sex- and age-matched normal control (NC) individuals. The PD Battery incorporates tests of motor function, olfaction, and mood. It has high spec ificity and sensitivity in distinguishing mildly affected PD patients from NC individuals in previous studies. Methods: This test battery and regressi on analysis-derived scoring equations were applied to asymptomatic FDR. Res ults: Twenty-three FDR and 23 NC individuals were tested. Of the FDR, 39% s cored in the abnormal range, whereas none of the NC individuals achieved ab normal scores. This difference was significant. Further analysis demonstrat ed that the two groups differed significantly on a measure of simple reacti on time. Conclusions: The proportion of FDR who demonstrated abnormal perfo rmance on the PD Battery was greater than NC individuals. Thus, the PD Batt ery may detect the asymptomatic carrier state or risk for PSP or a subclini cal effect of a shared environmental exposure.