This document provides methods and materials related to genetic variations of neurological disorders. For example, this document provides methods for using such genetic variations to assess susceptibility of developing Parkinson's disease.

The present disclosure provides methods to quantify tau phosphorylation at specific amino acid residues, using blood samples, to predict time to onset of mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer's disease, stage Alzheimer's disease, guide treatment decisions, select subjects for clinical trials, and evaluate the clinical efficacy of certain therapeutic interventions.

A substance that can be a substitute for amylospheroids (ASPD) and a method for analyzing ASPD are provided. Viewed from one aspect, the present disclosure relates to a substance in which amyloid-β protein (Aβ) is cross-linked with a cross-linking agent that has a spacer arm length of between 4 Å and 50 Å inclusive or a cross-linking agent that has, as a spacer arm, not less than 1 and not more than 13 groups that are an oxyethylene group(s) (—CH.sub.2CH.sub.2O—) and/or an oxypropylene group(s) (—CH.sub.2CH.sub.2CH.sub.3O—). Viewed from another aspect, the present disclosure relates to a method for analyzing ASPD using the substance as a reference material.

The present disclosure provides systems and methods for diagnosing disease. In some aspects, an imaging system is provided that includes a light source configured to illuminate a retina of the eye with light, one or more imaging devices configured to receive light returned from the retina to generate one or more spatial-spectral images of the retina, and a computing device configured to receive the one or more spatial-spectral images of the retina, evaluate the one or more spatial-spectral images, and identify one or more biomarkers indicative of a neurogenerative pathology.

This document provides methods and materials related to genetic variations of neurological disorders. For example, this document provides methods for using such genetic variations to assess susceptibility of developing Parkinson's disease.

The present disclosure provides for characterization of normal flora and identifying biomarkers in the gut of healthy, neurotypical subjects. Aspect of the disclosure provide for the characterization of the gut microbiome in ADS subjects, characterized by reduced richness and significant loss of the ‘Prevotella-like enterotype’ compared to neurotypical subjects. The relative abundance of genera Prevotella, Coprococcus, Prevotellaceae and Veillonellaceae are significantly lower in autistic children than in neurotypical children. Further, Prevotella, is one of the three main classifiers for the human enterotypes, along with Bacteroides and Ruminococcus. These three core genera are among main contributors in the principle component analysis. ‘Prevotella-like enterotype’ was absent in the autistic group, while neurotypical samples showed an even distribution among the three enterotypes. The present disclosure provides for an understanding the association between gut microbiota, health, and disease states, and provides for potential diagnostic and therapeutic targets.

The present invention relates to the field of medicine and in particular to Parkinson's disease (PD). Specifically the present invention relates to methods and means for early detection of PD. The invention relates also to methods and means for treatment or prophylaxis of PD.

In the method of the invention a probability of a subject developing or having Parkinson's disease (PD) is determined by measuring the relative abundances of one or multiple microbial taxa in a sample from a subject; and the probability of the subject developing or having PD is determined based on the measured abundances. The present invention provides a novel approach for the diagnostics of PD.

Subject matter of the present invention is a method for diagnosing dementia, or determining the risk of getting dementia in a subject that does not have dementia, or monitoring therapy or monitoring or guiding intervention in a subject that has dementia, or monitoring therapy or monitoring or guiding preventive intervention in a subject that is at risk of getting dementia.

The present invention relates to a normal-pressure hydrocephalus diagnosis composition and diagnosis marker detection method which use the level of expression of chitinase 3-like 1 (CHI3L1) in blood and, more specifically, to a normal-pressure hydrocephalus diagnosis composition and diagnosis kit which comprise a preparation for measuring the expression level of CHI3L1 protein or of mRNA encoding the protein, and to a normal-pressure hydrocephalus diagnosis method using same. According to the present invention, the expression level of CHI3L1 is significantly increased in patients with normal-pressure hydrocephalus. Thus, the present invention is excellent since it can rapidly and accurately diagnose normal-pressure hydrocephalus by analyzing the expression level of CHI3L1.

The present invention provides detection reagents and method for determining risk of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and/or susceptibility to neurodegenerative disease in a subject.