Science 

Cortico Basal Degeneration (CBD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with a prevalence of approximately 0,5 to 1 per 100,000 people. The median disease onset of CBD is around 60 years of age and it affects both women and men.

Some prevalent symptoms in people exhibiting CBD are: (i) Asymmetric parkinsonism with rigidity, bradykinesia and gait disorder; (ii) Apraxia which is an inability to perform or repeat  particular movements; (iii) Alien limb syndrome which is a failure of the patient to control the movements of her hand resulting in a sensation that the limb is "Alien" or "foreign"; (iv) Aphasia which results in disconnected speech patterns; (v) Myoclonus which are jerky rapid movements. The set of symptoms that an individual display varies and it is difficult to perform a definitive diagnosis of CBD while an individual is still alive.

The symptoms of CBD also overlap to those of other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease (PD) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), and patients are said to suffer from a corticobasal syndrome. From pathophysiological and anatomical standpoints, CBD involves the cerebral cortex, which controls speech, sensations and movements, and the basal ganglia, which mainly controls movements.

Neuroradiological studies with magnetic resonance imaging or radioactively labeled tracers that measure energy consumption often reveal asymmetric dysfunctions in the cerebral cortex and basal ganglia in CBD. At a pathological level, CBD is characterized with accumulation of the microtubuli-associated protein, tau, particularly in astrocyte cells. CBD, as well as PSP, are therefore often referred to as tauopathies. There are currently no treatments that efficiently remove symptoms or slow down the progress of CBD. Thus there is great medical need for new research on CBD.

Figure. Shown in the pictures are transverse brain images from a CBD patient showing [18F]FDG PET pattern (top picture) and corresponding MRI (bottom picture).