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Glossary of key terms in PSP
Grasping PSP's intricacies hinges on understanding key definitions and concepts. Familiarity with these principles will help you navigate its complexities.
a-synuclein
A neuronal protein involved in synaptic function that, when misfolded and aggregated, contributes to neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and related synucleinopathies.
Active metabolite
A biologically active compound produced when a drug is metabolized, contributing to the drug’s therapeutic or adverse effects.
Adverse events (AEs)
Any unintended or harmful medical occurrences in a clinical trial participant who is receiving a drug or undergoing a study procedure, which does not necessarily have a causal relationship with the treatment.
Akinetic-rigid
Parkinsonian trait characterized by reduced movement initiation (akinesia) and increased muscle tone (rigidity), usually with little or no tremor.
Aphasia
In the context of PSP, it refers to an acquired, progressive impairment of language function that can manifest as non-fluent, agrammatic speech, effortful and halting verbal output, and deficits in syntactic comprehension.
Apraxia
Impairment of the ability to perform purposeful, skilled movements that cannot be explained by basic motor deficits such as weakness, rigidity, bradykinesia, or tremor. In PSP, apraxia is most commonly ideomotor apraxia, which manifests as difficulty in executing learned movements on command or by imitation, despite intact comprehension and basic motor function, but other types as limb-kinetic apraxia (clumsy, imprecise movements, and difficulty with fine motor tasks) or apraxia of speech (effortful, halting speech with sound distortions) could also occur in specific phenotypes or advanced disease.
Area under the curve (AUC)
A measure of the total drug exposure over time, representing the area under the plasma concentration-time curve.
Astrogliosis
Reactive proliferation and hypertrophy of astrocytes in response to neural injury or disease, contributing to inflammation and scar formation in the central nervous system.
Atrophy
Shrinkage of tissue visible on imaging tests. In the case of the PSP, it refers to loss of brain volume.
Autosomal dominant transmission
A pattern of inheritance where only one copy of a mutated gene is enough to cause the disease.
Axonal transport
The bidirectional movement of cellular structures, proteins, and other materials within neurons, essential for maintaining neuronal function and survival.
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