Discussion
atonia, idiopathic RBD, neurological impairment, neurological abnormalities, RBD
DISEASE
We report characteristics of the initial NAPS Consortium cohort as measured through a standardized, comprehensive clinical assessment. Consistent with previous literature, we found a male preponderance for RBD (~80%),Even across 9 sites, there was a high male:female ratio in our RBD cohort, yet a striking lack of differences between men and women except for younger age of onset and higher antidepressant usage in women. Previous work has described an earlier age of RBD onset in women that can be attributed to previous or current antidepressant usage.Antidepressants are known to cause changes in sleep architecture and polysomnography findings, predominantly during REM sleep (e.g., induce prominent eye movements, suppress REM sleep, and increase REM sleep without atonia, RSWA).“Soft” neurological abnormalities were very common in our cohort (i.e., RBD+ participants; The possible genetic underpinnings of RBD remain ill‐defined. Previous work reported a family history for dream enactment via the RBD1QLimitations in this study include the cross‐sectional and descriptive nature inherent to these data and experimental design. Participants were recruited primarily from clinics offered on a consecutive basis and supplemented with community referrals through the In summary, this multisite dataset represents a coordinated effort to enroll, characterize, and follow a cohort of hundreds of subjects with RBD across North America. Initial results from this current baseline characteristics study already reveal novel insights about sex differences, antidepressant use, heritability, and the breadth and severity of neurological impairment among individuals with idiopathic RBD. Future work is poised to answer critical questions about longitudinal progression of disease, pathophysiological features, biomarkers, and predictors of phenoconversion. Importantly, longitudinal data on this well‐characterized cohort will inform the design of future neuroprotective clinical treatment trials, especially those targeting the earliest phase of synucleinopathy.