This core will perform two interrelated functions. It will train physicians who have completed their neurology residencies in both the evaluation and management of patients with Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders and in scientific techniques applicable to the study of Parkinson's disease pathophysiology. It will also establish a clinical core that will support the clinical (project #2) and experimental neuropathological (projects #1 and #3) research studies proposed in this center as well as provides a source of well characterized Parkinson's disease patients for research projects that are not directly part of this center. To accomplish this we will: 1) Examine, diagnose, and enroll in a PD Patient Registry men and women with PD and related parkinsonian syndromes, and healthy control subjects who are matched to the patients with respect to age, gender, and socio- economic status; 2) Characterize the neurological, functional, and neuropsychological features of PD in order to secure the clinical diagnosis and permit correlations between antemortem features of PD and postmortem findings; 3) Refer these carefully evaluated PD patients, and control subjects, to the specific clinical research projects described in the grant (project #2, Dr. Breakefield, PI) and to funded projects outside of the formal center; 4) To obtain brain donations from subjects enrolled in the PD Patient Registry; to process, diagnose and store each brain received; and to submit brain tissue to project #1 (Dr. Hyman, PI) and project #3 (Dr. Penny, PI) and to funded projects outside of the formal center.
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