Corticobasal degeneration

Corticobasal degeneration (CBD) is a rare neurodegenerative disease involving the cerebral cortex and the basal ganglia, classed among the Parkinson plus syndromes. Symptoms typically emerge between ages 50 and 70, slightly more often in women, and the disease progresses gradually with most patients surviving about eight years after diagnosis. It causes marked disorders of movement and cognition, including Parkinsonian rigidity and slow movement, alien hand syndrome in which control over a limb is lost, apraxia affecting coordinated action, aphasia affecting speech, and eventual cognitive decline or dementia. Because its symptoms overlap heavily with other neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease and progressive supranuclear palsy, a definitive diagnosis can only be confirmed postmortem. There is no cure; management relies on dopaminergic medication and supportive therapies such as speech and occupational therapy.